White Pocket

This is the sign I found chipped into the rock about eye-level off into the boonie crags near Paria's White House. It doesn't look Native American, yet it was so old there was lichen in it. I almost walked right past it. There was no difference in color or texture between the chipped areas and the outside rock. Since it takes lichen ages to grow, it seems too old to be Native American. But the four equal-length, equal-spaced vertical lines, and the near symmetrical design caught my eye. It looks more like a ranch brand used on cows than a native petroglyph.

White Pocket was one of the most interesting places I've ever been. This plant is so unbelievably unusual. There were balloons instead of flowers.

We thought we could drive a lot closer. When we realized we had to go 10 miles each way, not a cloud in the sky, in deep, soft sand, we feared we wouldn't have time. We each loaded up with over a gallon of water each and walked/jogged/ran. A guy in a 4x4 past us going the other way and wagged his head like we were fools marching to our certain deaths. I wore as much white as I could.

The rocks were like bacon.

 Paul in his element, running back to the cars.

 We sat on a weird rock (all the rocks were weird).
I tried to take a pyhoto thru my glasses, but it didn't work very well.

 The eclipse was awesome from the Paria Plateau (photo by Markus Muller)...

(Any resemblance to Devo is purely coincidental.)

Paria Canyon

Temperatures that day were around 70F. Mostly very comfortable, but there were some micro-climates we hiked/ran through that were 88F, scorching sun, no wind. Not exactly extreme but, adding the miles, we earned our beer.

Camping after a hard day down Buckskin Gulch and up Paria Canyon. Nothing beats sleeping out in the open under the stars.
I took some videos, but they're all washed-out too bright. Turns out my camera was accidentally set to over-expose. Shame - I had a few where I was running through Buckskin Gulch that really brought out the 3D experience.
As wonderful as all these areas are, I doubt I'll ever return to any of them. The World is way too large. There are too many places to experience and I'm too old to be returning to anything that's very far away. I'll be dead before I can see them all. Some might say by moving so fast, I don't get to fully experience places. They'd be right, but I'm experiencing more places. I do stop here and there. I have to sleep at night and sleeping out in the open instead of retreating to a motel is certainly a more thorough experience. So it's a trade-off.
I don't want to die soon - too many places I still want to experience. But when I do die, I'd rather it be out in some crazy place than on a couch or in bed or in a car accident. I want to "live" my life to the end, and share it with others doing the same.
Enough pretending to be profound. I'm a dirt jock. I like goofing off and having fun.

Buckskin Canyon Part 2

Buckskin Canyon Part 1