I endured a restless night of sleep (during which I spent most of the evening awake imagining rain was falling heavily outside only to finally look out the window at 3:33 am to see no rain but a dry footpath). In my tired state, my imagination led me to believe the sound of wind was rain. Obviously, wind in the GC sounds like rain, oy. Needless to say, I did not get much rest last night but snuck out early in the morning to catch my first GC sunrise. The wind was still howling so I threw on my jumper to locate my perch. I scouted the location earlier with Obi, so I knew where I was headed. I saw a few other folks with their thermos in hand, tripod and camera also scaling up some small rock outcrops for the perfect pic. I was early and so I took a moment to stretch waiting for the first dawn of light to peer over the horizon of trees set on the canyon rim. My eyes were intensely focused on the tree line – and it almost seemed like the birds and squirrels (who chirp a lot here) also knew what was about to happen. It was in the exact moment the sun appeared did I notice the birds calling to each other. They too were waiting for the sun to rise. The sun is certainly stunning over the canyon, the contrast of color is striking between the fiery reds, yellows and pinks to the brown, greens and gray of the stone – but what I found most appealing was the impact the sun had on the coloring of the rock and canyon walls. The walls came alive with sunlight and suddenly shadows appeared while other sections beamed. Maybe today would be a day with less smoky haze I wondered – but knew I would need to say goodbye. Watching the sun, rise in silence was my moment o give thanks and say farewell to a place that will never be forgotten.
Obi and I decided to have a quick breakfast before heading to Zion National Park. The drive was scheduled to be just under three hours. It was a surprise to use to see the route we planned to take actually brought us through the eastern entrance of the park through to Springdale where were were staying. Along the drive Obi and I played our favorite alphabet game (which he won this round) and nearly finished the podcast we began two days earlier. I also needed to make some calls to Priceline and Budget closing up the payments for the car we never received – oy. When we entered the town of Kanab, Utah, Obi suggested I search for electronic stores in search of aquiring a new camera battery. It must have been some small kind of miricale but just as I type the word, electronic…I look up to see the sign for an old “Foto Shop” – advertising camera repairs, camera parts and old cameras. We pulled over and walked in – and to my absolute delight they had one battery that fit my camera and one charger – OY MY – I was thrilled. The sales woman could sense my excitement and celebrated with me as we cut open the packaging, paid and ran to the car to begin charging it. It was perfect timing, about 20 minutes later we were at the eastern gate for Zion and immediately in front of what is referred to as the “Checkerboard Mesa.” The unusual patterns of rock formation are a result of two forms of weathering, cross-bedding from the ancient sand dunes the vertical line caused by the expansion and contraction of the sandstone caused by temperature changes. Not only does this Mesa have what seems like a grid like appearance given the curvature and movement of the sandstone there are perfectly symmetrical waves washing over the face giving the structure movement and lightness. What a great math problem this would be trying to imagine what the area of each square is when not all the angles are 90 degrees. Unlike many of the canyon structures which feel block like and heavy in their cube forms – this part of the park is almost dizzying given how many curves surround you. When you stand up at the base turning around in a circle your eyes are drawn upward following each layer to the sky. Imagining these structures as timeless pieces of earth is not realistic because when you look closely you can see how soft the sandstone is by reaching to your feet and collecting sand that has errored away. If you rubbed long enough the rock starts to crumble and you can expeeince what it’s like to actually “make” sand. It is in these moments you need to remind yourself of the presence of time and that in the moment you stand there looking at these monuments – in the next moment something about it will have changed and it’s never going to be the same.
Obi and I ventured further with the goal of getting to our lodging to check in – so as we drove onward the eastern entrance takes you through a mile long tunnel – the darkest tunnel I have experienced with no internal lights but from the car ahead of you and some structural cut outs for a burst of sun to shine through. The tunnel passes through a mountain – another engineering feat for sure! After a quick stop at the bed and breakfast and an informative chat with the inn keeper, we made our way back to Zion for some exploring. This part of Zion does not allow cars in, so you gain access with a free hop on and hop off shuttle. We decided to explore the Emerald pools (which were fun to reach, but green in color:) taking the middle route up to the upper pool and back down through the lower loop. These hikes were short in distance but nice to explore given the linking water pools. We had debated doing a famous hike through the Narrows – where you rent water boots with neoprene socks and a walking stick to wade through the shallow river through canyon walls. A friend mentioned doing this – and upon getting to the park it was clear that during the hot summer months this is the hike to do! The further up the river you walk, the narrower the canyon walls become. Given the time of the day (late afternoon) we decided to hold off on doing this hike – given how much time you need to explore and instead completed the final walk of the day along the river bed. The weather is a bit up in the air tomorrow and it might rain in the afternoon, so when we get to the park in the morning we’ll make a game time decision as to if we want to walk the Narrows or hike Angels Peak (this is a very steep hike with a view of the canyon – you know this is calling to the Franimal). However I have never hiked through water so I am also eager to try this. We also want to drive back to the eastern entrance to explore the structures we drove through earlier. A lot will depend on the weather. I need a good night’s rest tonight. There is a lot to do tomorrow.
I will say having my camera back was a true joy and I took full advantage of using the different lens – to see far and close. I tried hard to capture grand gestures like the wild rush of sandstone sweeping across the face of the mountains and the delicate eyes of a small blue dragonfly lightly landing on a blade of grass.
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