Arches fall.
We learned this lesson from our digital tour guide last
summer as we crawled along the roads of Arches National Park. Over time, even the most durable arch will
succumb to the elements: wind and rain and the creaking of deep seismic
shuffling. We were fortunate to have witnessed such geological marvels, we were
told. A millennium or two down the road - the flutter of butterfly wings in the
geological scope - and the arches would be gone.
So we did enjoy them, along with
many other remarkable features Utah has to offer, west past St. Louis and
Kansas City, and also Kansas, and even west past Morrison, Colorado (which is
just west of Denver) where we stopped for a couple of days to visit old friends
and their new pet dog, Bumblebee. Here we laughed at old jokes and balanced on
ropes. We soaked tired feet in a cold stream next to that most iconic of
Colorado tourist spots - the Coney Island Hot Dog stand from Comedy Central’s
South Park. After two days' rest we continued over the continental divide and
then mercifully down onto less-finicky terrain.
Eventually we made it across the
border of Utah itself, where we found the kind of desert portrayed on Saturday
morning cartoons - where coyotes pack dynamite and bloated expectations. We
eventually found Moab and then found our hotel. Our timing was off, though, and
the pool was broken, so instead we drove to Arches down the road. But our
daughter Annaka’s timing was perfect, because, as a 4th grader, she was given a
free “America the Beautiful” pass, which allowed us access to all the national
parks in the United States!
The next morning we scooted out
early enough to make it to Canyonlands National Park by sunrise. We hiked two
trails, both in the “Island in the Sky” area: the iconic Mesa Arch trail,
(pictures of which you’ve undoubtedly seen if you’ve ever read an inspiring
quote next to an inspiring picture) and the White Rim Overlook, which was less
inspiring because we had to make sure no one got too close to the rim! After
some more picture-taking we returned to our hotel to find our pool still
broken. Fortunately, a neighboring hotel agreed to let us use their facilities,
so we did, then finished the evening (and our brief stay in Moab) with a
relaxed meal at the Broken Oar Restaurant downtown.
The next morning we continued west
and then south, toward our next free National Park - Capital Reef. Located in
the southeastern part of the state and closer to the Grand Canyon than the
Great Salt Lake, Capital Reef required even more desert travel. We outlanders
used to highway exits every ten-to-twenty miles had to recalibrate our sense of
comfort and redefine what we meant by “restroom.” No matter. We made it without
a mess.
Unfortunately our timing was off
again as we detoured around a wildfire, and even when we arrived at the visitor
center we found it darkened by the fire-induced power outage. Instead of a
museum, though, we examined petroglyphs in broad August daylight, created by
the Fremont Culture hundreds of years ago, before finding the highway again and
moving toward La Verkin, Utah, where we were to stay for nearly a week with
friends from back home.
La Verkin was a natural gateway to
our next destination - Zion National Park. For the next few days we explored as
much of Zion as we could. We bustled up a bumpy overlook one evening to watch a
sunset over the city, and then waded through a cold canyon the next morning to
say we could. One day we rented Ebikes and zipped up and down the park’s only
highway, stopping every once in a while to hike, or rest, or to take pictures
of us hiking or resting.
The next day we left La Verkin
before dawn and crossed into Arizona. After another jostle through the desert,
we hiked through the eerily picturesque Antelope Canyon with a Navajo tour
guide before visiting the sources of yet another iconic photograph - the
Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River. Like many pictures taken out West, the
scenes were much warmer in person. Against our instincts (or at least our
wishes) we loaded up and left the next morning, rumbling north and then east
across the desert and then back up into the Rocky Mountains. We stayed outside
Denver that evening and made it home the next day to finish up our summer, with
only a few short days left to get ready for school.
The
next week Annaka told her teacher and some classmates about the trip, and about
the National Park pass she had earned for being a 4th grader. Just a year or so
older - or younger - and the pass wouldn’t have earned as much use. Despite the
occasional dose of bad timing, I feel fortunate to have enjoyed such an adventure
with family and friends. I’m thankful to have seen
such beautiful places, because arches do fall - and the kids grow up - while
the miles fade into the mirror.
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