Friends in Strange Places

So today we hiked Bryce canyon. The five of us set out from our humble enormous Parthenon tent, and drove to the edge. Having already viewed the top upon arrival, we wasted no time in our descent.

Despite how majestic the view from the rim was, it did not compare to what we saw on either side of us as we hiked the path downwards. Orange stone, layered sediment weathered by time, rising hundreds of feet above our heads. If sediment could be called sublime, I would call this sublime.

We joked, we laughed loudly, we posed for ridiculous pictures, and were basically tourists. And that’s when it hit me: I am a tourist. Normally I’m close enough to home to consider the park that I’m in as mine, but this was different. I have traveled across the country, just to go here. I AM A TOURIST. And I was having a grand time. We took a lot of pictures, because that’s what tourists do, right?

And there were lots of French speaking people. We figure that they are probably Canadian, but they speak French either way. Or they’re from the mythical and enchanting snow land of Canadia, which borders on the hard desert land of Araba. However, joking aside, there they were. Josh postulates that there will be more foreigners than Americans in the national parks, because when you go to another country you go to see the pretty things. I think that there’s a massive French Canadian conspiracy to take the lush and fertile land of Utah by force.

We made friends today. Their names were Steve, Jeffery, Mitch, and Azule. They were animals, and we named them. We wanted their love, and their companionship, their undying loyalty and affection. All they wanted was our food. It didn’t work out on a permanent basis. But I hope to remain pen pals, perhaps find them on the interwebs. Maybe tomorrow we’ll make some human friends.

I forgot about the altitude out here. Even at the bottom of the canyon we’re thousands of feet higher than dear old N.C. at the highest point we were OVER 9,000!!!! feet up. Or 89,000 if you ask David. Either way, it was hard to breathe, and hiking up steep inclines and around canyon cliffs was quite difficult. I at least was winded and worn out by the time we ended our hike, and ready to eat and sleep. We ate, we cleaned, we talked about things, and packed up for our trip to Zion tomorrow. Now the sun has begun to set, and there’s a layer of clouds, which means no stars tonight. Bummer. But it’s been fun for us, now have some fun yourselves. And make some people friends, or animals work too.

~Stephen Minervino