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| 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!
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| Kolob Arch- possibly the world's largest freestanding arch |
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Hiking in Kolob Canyon near Kolob Arch
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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.
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| These are NOT the evil creatures--these are bighorn sheep! |
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| 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!
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| Stream crossings in Kolob Canyon |
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| Early morning vista of Zion Canyon from Cable Mtn |
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Bear Trap Canyon- it was was still cold back there!
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| There's nothing like a very large glass of Polygamy Porter after three days of backpacking |
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| We LOVE Zion National Park! |
In addition to the spectacular weather, Ben and I have been showered
with warmth and love from our friends and fellow community members. Numerous people that we have run into
on the street have phrased our return perfectly by shouting out to us, ”Welcome
back home!” It truly does feel
like a homecoming to us. 
