Sunday

Utah Desert Adventure 2007

First we hiked out to kill some time and give the sun time to dry the road a bit. Our plan to break camp early was hosed, because the clay roads would have stopped even Chris' V8 Toyota Tundra.

Thankfully it did warm up. When we left camp, I had a winter hat under a rain hat, a winter shell over a leather jacket over a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, and long johns. By the time we got back I had a very full backpack, having stripped down to a single layer.

It took us some time to dry things out at camp, but we did our best and left for a new location I had hand-picked. This was a new experience for both of us, as we hiked a couple miles to another land bridge on a much higher canyon. I can't say this land bridge is as pretty as the one Chris found, but the neighboring views cover a much larger area. I kept coming to areas with scenic views and hearing music from Lord of the Rings in my head for some reason--yes, it was that grandiose. Please check out lots of the pictures--the thumbnails again don't come close to showing what we saw.

It got late as we went out on the land bridge, though, so we decided to turn back rather than risk darkness. No one wants to get stuck out all night on a land bridge and try to huddle under an overhang, or to walk back a couple miles even on the easier terrain in the dark. I had my headlamp and mini flashlight, but Chris didn't have his headlamp and my mini flashlight would not have been ideal for him. Next time, land bridge! Maybe there are ruins out there as well.

By the time we got back to the campsite it was just sunset. Had some great cheeseburgers and went to bed. This night, we again had no campfire, and instead of setting up the tent just for the last night, I slept in the truck cab. It wasn't too bad for one night.

Canyons_IMG_2177 Thanks to the bad date ordering this comes first. A great canyon view.	After_the_storm_IMG_2128 The early morning, during sunrise, left us with still-running water on both sides of the campsite. I took several pictures of water, and some little waterfalls. Definitely an unusual experience here!	After_the_storm_IMG_2129	After_the_storm_IMG_2130
After_the_storm_IMG_2132	After_the_storm_IMG_2133	After_the_storm_IMG_2136	After_the_storm_IMG_2144
After_the_storm_IMG_2145 The tent is trying off, away from the tarp that had been under it. The tent began to blow away at least twice and had to be re-securied. Tent spikes didn't help much given that the ground was very rocky. Yes, my dirty and soaked clothes are drying on a tree there. They never did get very dry--had to bring them home damp.	After_the_storm_IMG_2146 Is it a truck or a dryer?	Canyons_IMG_2148 I believe this was taken near our second campsite. Amazing canyons out this way.	Canyons_IMG_2153
Canyons_IMG_2154	Canyons_IMG_2155	Canyons_IMG_2156	Canyons_IMG_2159
Canyons_IMG_2160	Canyons_IMG_2162	Canyons_IMG_2169	Canyons_IMG_2170
Canyons_IMG_2172	Canyons_IMG_2173	Canyons_IMG_2174	Canyons_IMG_2176
After_the_storm_IMG_2127	Canyons_IMG_2178	Canyons_IMG_2179	Canyons_IMG_2182
Canyons_IMG_2186	Canyons_IMG_2188	Chris_looking_at_canyons_IMG_2180	Chris_under_overhang_IMG_2138
Land_bridge_IMG_2171	Land_bridge_IMG_2181 A good view of the land bridge. This one is tough to navigate. It looks like you can go around the outside of it, but we wanted to stay as far away from edges as possible...which also complicates things. So, we didn't get all the way out...this time.	Plains_overlooking_canyon_IMG_2167	Plains_overlooking_canyon_IMG_2168
Pools_of_water_IMG_2158 Before we got out to the land bridge, we came across these pools of water. It rained the previous night, so this is no surprise. Made for pretty pictures, though.	Pools_of_water_IMG_2184 Believe it or not, Chris volunteered to strip and take a bath here. Good thing it was a joke, because hypothermia isn't.	Ruins_under_overhang_IMG_2141 This was part of the morning hike--nowhere near the site with the land bridge.	Ruins_under_overhang_IMG_2142
Ruins_under_overhang_IMG_2143	Spearpoint_IMG_2164 Just laying on the ground to be picked up.	Spearpoint_IMG_2165	Spearpoint_IMG_2166 Its translucence is amazing.
Sunset_IMG_2192 This was about a minute from camp--we just made it back before darkness.	Todd_under_overhang_IMG_2139 Interesting little area.	Waterfall_from_storm_IMG_2123	Waterfall_from_storm_IMG_2131 Morning shot from before we broke camp--again, sorry for the ordering of the pictures.
Waterfall_from_storm_IMG_2135