Dear family, friends and followers, the past 24 hours have been difficult. After a bit over 3.5 months and about 17,000 miles on the road, through five Canadian Provinces, a multitude of States, along with a very large number of various State and Federal Parks, Monuments and Historic sites, with almost no issues, injuries or upsets . . . my luck tanked!! LOL
First, I have had water from many different sources, it has been from a bottle, a tap, a well, boiled and frozen, but recently I tangled with some water that disagreed with me horribly. I have been fighting an intestinal upset for days, and traveling or hiking became . . . shall we say . . . difficult at best. I have finally opted to take a break and try to recover, staying in a KOA cabin last night and resting. I woke feeling better, but not rushing into eating anything!
Yesterday, my windshield took its fifth rock . . . of all thing, from a semitruck hauling two levels of bacon with legs (pigs) to a processor. It put a big divot in the glass, but that was all, until I got up this morning, and sometime last night the divot turned into a large crack. Now I need to file a claim and then figure out where and when I can get the windshield replaced while continuing my journey.
And then to add insult to injury, while I was in Zion National Park today, I set my hydration bag down and stepped away for five minutes . . . and it walked off! My fault . . . I should have known better!! I just let my mind wander . . . and then my bag did the same thing!! On the good note, I now have a hydration bag that holds twice as much water, which in the high desert of Utah is a godsend!!
Today I started in Zion National Park at a location called the “Valley of the Patriarchs.” The weather was perfect and the light magnificent. I put in a couple of hours of photography and a couple of miles. Having hiked myself out, and photographed the things I wanted to see, it was time to move on. I do have two regrets in Zion though. First, the crazy new lottery system that is in place to limit the numbers of people going across to Angel’s Landing is ludicrous. I tried for the “same-day” pass twice but had no luck with the draw. I am now going to have to go online and start picking dates in 2023 to try and win!!
Second, there were three hiking trails that I was hoping to possibly do, two that I had previously completed, and one long hike up to “Observation Point”. However, the most recent landslide has closed all three trails for the next five to seven years! The huge slab of rock is VERY unstable and could slip more at any time . . . so the Park Service is not even fooling with it for now!! Well . . . everything changes over time!!
Bryce Canyon is only 80 miles or so from Zion . . . but it took me three hours to get here! There are so many incredible overlooks, such amazing beauty around every curve, that I had to keep stopping and jumping out with my camera, snapping a couple quick frames, and driving on!! LOL it was crazy!! But I did finally make it into Bryce Canyon National Park, only to go hiking immediately for another five miles!! My dogs are worn out and I am going to bed!! I will do my best to try and get an update out tomorrow loaded with pictures of Lassen National Park and Northern California . . . KOA Wi-Fi quality may make it or break it!!
Good night and be safe! Hydrate . . . hydrate . . . hydrate!
What the Walrus said . . . 