Desert tripping

it's been hard to write, since mostly we've been too busy hiking

and cycling

and mountain biking

to do any blogging.

we've seen some amazing stuff in our two weeks away: peregrines shrieking over red-rock hoodoos, familiar montane landscape giving way to badlands i couldn't have imagined, natural bridges, trestle bridges, arches and petroglyphs, an entire national park closed to private vehicles, queen victoria figured in sandstone, marriages ending in an RV park (mostly because of the parking), a japanese lady hiking with parasol and kitten heels, a lizard eating a grasshopper. there are things we've felt that can't be captured in words or photographs: the miracle of an apple in desert heat, the coolth of rock that's been in the shade, the feeling you get in front of pictographs painted over 10,000 years ago.

i'm writing this post, and the next few, just outside bryce canyon. it's high desert, 7777 feet, which means it goes down to freezing at night and up to a perfect 24 during the day. there's a big fat robin perched on the tent trailer while its mate scours the ground around my feet. a stellar's jay is sitting in the tree ahead of me. it's just like being in jasper .... until you remember what's down the road.