Being alone on this canyon ridge at sunset was a surreal feeling. September’s POTM comes from Zion National Park in Virgin, Utah. My long-time friend Adam Aydelette and I decided to embark on a journey across a large portion of the United States earlier this summer. His 1991 Honda Accord drifted us across the nation like a well oiled yacht. Fueled by Monster Energy Drinks and an entire loaf of sandwiches, we decided to weigh anchor for 28 long hours to our first resting point, Gallup, N.M. From a short ten hour stay in Gallup we headed to our ultimate destination, Zion National Park. We spend the night at a nearby Super 8 (which would become our exclusive motel provider) and had a gear shakedown to get ready for the three day backpacking trip we planned to begin the next morning.
Bright and early we entered the Backcountry Office and obtained our permits. As we were headed to meet our shuttle driver who would take us to the West end of the park I started feeling a little seasick. This was the beginning of my great demise. As we got off of the shuttle and began our hike into the canyon I quickly realized that the salad bar at the local diner the night before, had been a sub-par decision. After getting sick several times we decided we better stop and see if I could re-hydrate before heading any further into extreme dry heat desert. After continuous attempts (and continuous failure) for two hours we began to hike back out the way we came in. By the time we finally reached the trail-head I had lost enough water to began to become delirious. Adam flagged down a Park Ranger who was driving by and explained to him the situation. The Ranger took us down the mountain to their sub-station where an EMT checked over my health. We picked up a gallon of water at the gas station and headed back to our home away from home, the Super 8, where I proceeded to sleep for 15 hours.
Signs were looking up by noon the next day so we headed back to the park and got new permits for an in and out overnight trek. After seven long miles of upward trail we reached the view you see as the POTM. Finally, we had come to what we drove 2,100 miles to see. There we sat most of the evening, reflecting, contemplating, and rallying for the remainder of the route. The hike out the next day was swift due to the steep incline, we received some estranged looks as we ran downhill past day-hikers with our packs jostling around.
A scenic drive through Utah was nice, however it meant we got off schedule to see Arches National Park in Moab. We did some quick windshield time through the park and then set up camp for the night. Around 11 we went for a late-night hike to see one of the parks more famous arches, The Delicate Arch. The entire ground in the area was rock, so we quickly got off track and ended up in middle of nowhere. We stumbled upon what we called “The Lions Den” due to the appearance of the area. We sat down for a few and took in the night sky, until we heard the unsettling howls of coyotes coming from all directions. Being in unfamiliar territory, it seemed wise to pack it up and wing our way back to where we started.
As the sun rose in the morning we loaded up the tried and true Honda and hit road. We were in the car to watch the sunset, the sunrise, and finally arrived back in beautiful Boone just before the next sunset.
All in all we had an amazing time, learned a lot, saw a varying landscape and demographics across this great land, and for me, got some much needed freestyle camera time!
I hope you are all doing quite well and love hearing from you guys! Keep in touch and thank you all so much for the continued support.
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