Ibalst

Soo...after we all came down from our highs in Zion National Park, we hit the road again. We drove for what seemed an entire day but somehow it was still light when we set up camp. This was totally foreign to us, but we adapted. Once we set up, it didn't take me long to start wandering.

This is what was waiting for me to find around the corner about 1 1/2 miles away from my tent! I was in awe at the sheer size. I couldn't gain any scale of how far away things were or how deep this canyon really was. Mr. Cropper, the geology instructor, would say things like "look at those two lines of strata across the canyon, they are more than two thousand feet difference in elevation." I still didn't get it, it was just too big, I had to get into it to understand.

As you can see, the views were incredible! I was told that the days we were there were perfect for taking pictures. Actually, we made a few professional photographers angry by conducting discussions at key overlooks, OOOPS! These are some of my favorite from my vantage point.

Oh yeah, did I mention the sunsets! There are a few places on earth that you can hear the earth speak, this was one of them.

The next morning we hiked into the canyon to Roaring Springs and back out. Along with a few others, I really wanted to hike as far down as I could and then go back up. Mr. Cropper wanted to keep everyone safe and do a challenging hike but do-able for everyone. So Roaring Springs it was, I mean it was a change in elevation of 3,000 feet so at least I could work up a sweat! Turned out it was plenty of a hike.

There was one thing you had to avoid at all costs, droppings!

As you can see, the views are nice but not as good as from up top. This is why there are so few pictures of the hike! Well that and the reason that I was too tired to pull the camera out.

And so begins the struggle!

Well, we all made it back safely, maybe a little tired but good! I started getting the feeling that these parks out here are a lot like Disney World in the sense that, you really can't see them all in one visit. They are just too massive! I guess I will just have to come back later, when I have a little more time. This is the whole group as we were leaving to go to Mesa Verde. Next time I will share what an amazing place that was.