Utah

I went camping for a week in Utah.

On the first night, I sent my mom a photo of the sky scattered with stars. I have never seen anything like it - a thin cloudy strip brushed across the sky. My mom asked: what did you learn? I said I learned that wow there existed so many stars.

During the week, we did 10 hikes totaling 44 miles. We did them in Zion, Bryce, and Escalante. I expected some life-changing realizations with the 140000 steps I took going up and down the hill, but I didn’t learn anything philosophically new, besides some geology and biology facts. Zion formed 250 million years ago, Bryce 144 million years ago, Escalante 200 million years ago. Deposition, uplifting, down cutting, erosion carved the landscape. Sandstones are red, limestones are yellow, mudstones are gray. Bats squeak, hummingbirds hum, deers don’t usually make a sound. Juniper trees provide great shades, pine tree barks can be burned when air is moist, mesquite bushes can be made into flour.

Canyons can be giant or small, currents can be against or for, sun can be brutal or warm. Water is crucial, an optimistic mind is necessary when carrying 40lbs backpack and doing all the chores.

On the bus back to Las Vegas, canyons still wrap around the roads. I was happy to not having to camp anymore last night, but a same old feeling kicked in.

From my archeological dig, arrivederci still hasn’t come true. Majority of people that one meet in life do not cross path in the future. Marty Ann, an old lady who retired with a round nose, said “when I’m gone.” The warm bonfire was just about to die out, with remaining heat creating flying flakes. Canyon nights’ temperature could drop dramatically, from scorching skin to pinching bones. When sands peel particle by particle, when rocks crack layer by layer, when river drain stream by stream, pictographs and petroglyphs become constricted by time.

So I learned nothing new. Same old lessons repeat themselves. I am just grateful that I got to taste our guide Jack’s cooking for a week.