I've been to the desert on a horse with no name . . .

Friday, 10 July, 2015

Family photo at the Mesa Arch

This morning, while we were checking the room to make sure we remembered everything, Shelby pulled out a book in the bedside table--the Book of Mormon (in addition to the Bible).  We checked our hotel room here in Arizona--no Book of Mormon.  Only in Utah!  :)

First thing, we went to Canyonlands NP.  Randy checked and the northern entrance seemed to be more of what we wanted:  short hikes to see things.  At the southern entrance, you evidently drive in and park, then hike from there.  We saw another arch--the Mesa Arch and lots of interesting rock formations.  There are signs all over (as there were at the Arches NP) about staying on the path.  You are allowed to step off if you walk on the slip rock (which is all over).  The reason is the fragile soil.  It has a biologic soil crust, which means it has little ridges to trap seeds and microorganisms to feed those seeds and other plants.  If you step on the soil, you can ruin the ability of the soil to sustain life. And just an interesting bit, the reason the rocks are called slip rocks is because horses with metal horseshoes would slip on them when they were wet.

Shelby being contemplative

The white stripe down the middle is from the mining roads--it may take decades for the land to recover

My first try at a panoramic photo

My second try!

Joshua

Joshua trying to be close to Shelby and Shelby not wanting to be close to him.

Prickly Pear cactus

Mesa Arch

flower in the desert--maybe a variety of digitalis or bellflower?

Mesa arch

The view through the arch.

One of many cairns--some are from the park service to mark the trail and some are just started by someone else, but all are added to freely by other hikers.

This is a juniper bush.  The needles feel like plastic and it has little berries.  Many of the small bushes here have very tough, plastic-feeling needles or leaves--I assume to store water.

Edge of a canyon

The trunk of this tree was twisted by the wind up here.

Another cairn--this made by hikers.

At one time, Randy asked a couple attempting a selfie on the edge of a cliff if they'd like him to take their photo and they declined saying that they were trying to do a selfie.  It made me think about a few articles I've read about our current society being so screen-centered that our young adults aren't learning social and interactional skills.  Then we also have these same people buying sticks to be able to take photos of themselves that they could easily ask someone else to take (I ask people all the time).  Not that we shouldn't take selfies--they are fun and immediate; but when we are on the edge of a really deep canyon or need a stick to get a proper distance for a better photo--why??  Talk to other people!  We meet people by taking photos of each other--even today we met two young women from just outside Paris here on holiday.  Very few people will refuse.  One man yesterday acted annoyed, but when I said that we would then get out of his way (he appeared to be waiting for us to finish so that he could take a photo without us in it), he then agreed and proceeded to take three shots--even squatting down to get a better one!  And he smiled when I said that we would now get out of his way.
Canyonlands was nice, but I think I liked Arches better.  There were many hikes we wanted to go on but couldn't.  We then drove into Arizona and through Monument Valley.  We stopped to take photos of the part of the road that is in many movies--including Forrest Gump (remember when he was running across the country and was going through Arizona?--this is where it was filmed.)  The corner of Arizona on the northeast is the Navajo Nation, there were a lot of roadside stands selling Navajo jewelry.  There are no large towns in this area of Arizona.  We stopped in the small town of Monticello and found a tiny park (Pioneer Park) that is one lot wide with grass, a little gazebo, a picnic bench, and a small flower garden.  It is fenced on three sides with an arch on the final side that said Pioneer Park.  Perfect little park to have our picnic lunch:  leftover pizza and breadsticks (from last night kept in the cooler), protein granola bars, grapes and oranges, and lemonade.  The weather was very hot while we were hiking, by the time we got to Monticello the breeze was quite cool.  Where we are now is comfortable, even at night. The scenery from Moab to Page was pretty, but mostly the same.

The Forrest Gump road.

The rock structures near the road.

Looking forward to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.  We had hoped to see Antelope Canyon too (which you need to reserve a tour for), but we are three hours from the Grand Canyon, so there and back as well as time there will take up the whole day.  We'll stop at the grocery store across the street for some food for lunch tomorrow--probably won't find a cute place like to today, though!