The People You Meet

To sum up what all has happened since Stephen filled you in last night, we got up early this morning to snow showers on our tent and broke camp pretty quickly.  We then boarded the old teal van and made our way about an hour southwest to Zion National Park.  Driving into the park, I didn’t think there was any way that Zion could be as cool as Bryce Canyon… I was wrong.  We have all pretty much come to a consensus that neither park is really anymore awesome than the other but that they are equally awesome… just in different ways.  I really never would have thought that two parks that are only maybe 50 miles apart could be so different, but the terrain in Zion nothing like Bryce.  The fact that they are both canyons is about where the similarities stop.

We arrived at our campsite in the Watchman Campground (much prettier than our site at Bryce), threw up camp and quickly set out for a hike to Angels' Landing.

We learned on the shuttle ride up the valley that Angels' Landing first got its name because a Methodist minister saw it and thought it was so inaccessible that only angels could get to the top.  And yet, some intrepid (and maybe slightly insane) national park employee didn’t think this was the case.  Fast forward a few decades and there we were scaling the cliffs high above the Virgin River hoping to be rewarded with 360 degree views of one of the prettiest places on earth.

We were 1,000 feet above the ground clinging to the side of the bright red cliff when the guys above us shouted down to David, “Hey David, keep telling jokes, it helps.” He responded in kind, "So this guy falls off a cliff..." We had only met this group of church staff from Las Vegas a few minutes before and yet in their time of need they were calling on us to help them fight through the vertigo and fear of heights that often accompany the hike to Angels Landing. 

It never ceases to amaze me how much camaraderie develops between strangers in national parks.  I noticed this on my previous road trip out west as well.  There is something about the people who frequent national parks, or the situations you get in, or some mystery variable that I haven’t thought of, that makes it completely appropriate to befriend anybody and everybody around you.  I love it!  You find anything in common with the people around you and suddenly you are swapping stories of your trips and recommending experiences that lie down the road.  Take last night for instance.  We were looking through the gift shop at Bryce Canyon when all of a sudden I heard “UNC sucks!” ring out.  I looked around me and saw a young guy wearing a Virginia Tech hat heckling an older gentleman in line who was wearing a Chapel Hill hat.  Not wanting to miss a good ACC showdown we all jumped in proclaiming the glory of the institution that is NC State.  In no time at all we were conversing with the Chapel Hill fans and picking up good tips about places we could check out on the rest of our trip.

I really can’t think of many other situations where people are as amiable and ready to talk as when they are exploring the wild places that this country has to offer.  The places that we get to experience make this trip amazing but I think equally important are the people we meet and share our lives with along the way.

-Joshua “Sugarpants” Clemmons