Clucks go to the Desert!

Zion National Park- aka desert heaven

Spring break has now come and gone, but our memories from the week are still fresh.  We have dreams at night of red rock canyons and sand sifting through our toes.  We recall the feeling of warm sunshine touching our skin and the carefree days that lacked any itinerary other than donning our packs and hiking through a beautiful, desert landscape.  As one can tell, we decided to take our spring break away from the great state of Alaska.  We traded in the wintery arctic for the hot desert sun from March 16-23^rd.   It was pure heaven (with only a few exceptions). 

Ben and I mournfully left Chena behind to play in the snow in Alaska while we went on vacation.  We really weren’t worried about her though, because she was in good hands.  Nellie and Pete took her in for the week and Otter was extremely excited to have a play buddy.  Nellie and Pete are always the best of hosts, and it was true for hosting our dog as well.  They texted numerous pictures to us of Chena and Otter curled up next to each other, forming a ying-yang symbol out of their dog bodies.  Otter and Chena are now truly BFFs.  They apparently wrestled nearly non-stop, pausing to take some nap breaks or chew on each other’s toys.  Chena most definitely had a blast while we were gone! 

Kolob Arch- possibly the world's largest freestanding arch

Hiking in Kolob Canyon near Kolob Arch

So, back to our trip.  Ben and I traveled north from Las Vegas (barely surviving the dreaded city for one night) to Zion National Park.  We backpacked nearly the whole week in Kolob Canyons and then on the East Rim Trail and its offshoots.  Each day we awoke from our tent to bright blue skies contrasted against glowing red rock.  We seemed to choose trails that others missed, as the majority of the time, we had the desert to ourselves.  We loved Zion so much, we toyed with the idea of moving to Southern Utah.  That is, until the Dreaded Moment took place.  We were having so much fun, not worrying about bears, moose, or hypothermia that we nearly forgot about the evil creature that resides in this landscape.

These are NOT the evil creatures--these are bighorn sheep!  

Our campsite by the evil creature's home

 One night, mid-week, Ben and I were pumping water from the silty, LaVerkin Creek, when we heard a rustling on the creek bank beside us.  We noted the movement of a grass quickly being pulled into a hole in the ground, which was hidden underneath decomposing leaf debris .  We both paused and wondered what cute, friendly, furry little creature was near us.  The creature didn’t reveal itself while we were eagerly watching, so we went back to our tent, which was pitched about 5 feet from the hole.   About 30 minutes later, Ben noticed a large mound of dirt by the creek that hadn’t existed when we were on the creek bank only a short while before.  We both stood up and looked at the dirt mound from about 10 feet away, only to discover that the excavator was still busily working.  It was indeed a furry animal about the size of my hand, but it was most definitely not cute or friendly.   It was a tarantula. And it was HUGE, as well as being extremely quick and nimble.  We watched in horror as it flung dirt around with the strength of a bulldozer.   Ben and I both have a healthy dose of arachnophobia, as was evidence by Ben’s shrill, shriek when he saw the giant arachnid.  We both decided in that moment of terror, that we were much better suited to the land of the far north…far away from this creepy crawler.  We immediately unstaked our tent and moved it as far away as possible from the tarantula’s home.  Then we came up with a new procedure for exiting the tent.  All exit procedures would now begin with banging the sides and top of the tent repeatedly before unzipping, just in case a tarantula may be on the tent waiting for its chance to jump inside and attack us when we opened the door.  As darkness crept in that night, we huddled together in our sleeping bags, trying to focus on the sound of the creek rather than the rustling sounds on the ground.  Thankfully, we survived the night and the remainder of the trip without any tarantula attacks…but it sure seemed like a close call.  Despite creepy crawlers, we would love to get back to Zion again in the near future!  

Stream crossings in Kolob Canyon

Early morning vista of Zion Canyon from Cable Mtn 

Bear Trap Canyon- it was was still cold back there!

On the canyon edge off the Dear Trap Canyon Trail on East Rim

On Deer Trap Trail

Hiking in the Narrows

Ben in Orderville Canyon

There's nothing like a very large glass of Polygamy Porter after three days of backpacking

We LOVE Zion National Park!