Arches Soul

This summarizes my internship experience in Utah.

The Yearling

My dear friend Johnathan came to visit me this week at the park.  I only have a few days left of my internship, and I'm so glad he was able to come out and enjoy some of the beauty with me.

We were hiking Devils Garden when we both experienced another one of Nature's remarkable moments.

Devils Garden, like the Windows, is definitely one of the busiest trails in the park.  However, we found ourselves almost completely alone throughout our hike to Double O Arch and back.  We were enjoying the views and the stillness, but at the same time I wanted us to get back before sunset.

I tried to quicken our pace slightly.

As we bounded up and down the red rock fins, joking and singing goofily, we suddenly were stopped dead in our tracks.  A group of mule deer were grazing in the middle of the trail.

In the middle of the trail!

One of the most frequented sections of trail in the park.

There they were.  A buck, two does and a yearling.

They put some distance between us, but we remained frozen and watched.

Barely breathing because of their proximity.

As we stood and watched them, the buck retreated to a higher vantage point and never took his eyes off of us, while the does, and especially the yearling, returned to their late afternoon meal.

Slowly but surely the yearling moved closer and closer to us, nibbling on some of the black brush and service berry branches.  He chewed the leaves.  Looked up at us.  Moved closer.  And found more branches to try.

All the while, the buck stared us down from a distance.

Johnathan and I sat down on the rock.

Still.

The yearling eventually crossed in front of us, only about fifteen feet away.  It was nothing for him.  He didn't care about these hikers, or perhaps he wasn't yet old enough to know about the dangers of man.  He just chewed his food and walked past the awe-stricken onlookers.

The two does followed.  A little more cautiously and a little further away.

Then the buck.

Hesitant at first, he approached our position very slowly.  He stopped before fully committing, probably thinking to himself, "They do not know about man.  I have lived long enough to become wise, and I know these men cannot be trusted."  But because the rest of the family had already crossed, he could not let them go ahead unprotected.

Johnathan and I again held our breath as the large animal passed before us, swiftly and gracefully.  We both knew we should probably avoid making direct eye contact with this dominant creature, but we could not resist.  We both looked directly into his dark eyes.

Mesmerized.

His cautious run quickened to a thankful retreat as he ducked below some juniper branches avoiding entanglement with his large antlers.

He rejoined his family and hurried them along over the fins and out of sight.

Johnathan and I looked at each other and let out a sigh of relief and amazement.

We were astonished and thankful for such a sincere moment in Nature.

A moment of surprise as we came across the herd in the first place.

A moment of wonder as they didn't retreat out of sight.

A moment of innocence as the yearling crossed before us fearlessly.

And a moment of respect and admiration as the buck reluctantly trusted us enough to rejoin his small tribe.

Moments like this do not occur everyday.

*   *   *   *   *

On another note, the Fiery Furnace is a great place to reenact scenes from Lord of the Rings.

Enjoy.

Windows

Other than being there in the middle of the night, this was the only time I have ever seen the Windows parking lot completely empty.

Walking up and down the trails completely by myself in a place that is usually one of the busiest sections of the park was pretty remarkable.

Almost magical, in fact.

It really is a beautiful area, but I think a lot of the time it is loved too much.  So many tourists stroll up to that North Window so they can get a photo of themselves underneath an arch, and then they're on their way again (most likely to Devils Garden or Delicate Arch).

But as I walked quietly by myself today, I noticed things I don't usually see when it's busy or when I'm leading a guided walk.

I began the primitive loop going behind the South and North Windows, and I stopped every couple minutes and strained my ears and eyes.  During one of these stops, I suddenly found myself in the midst of a staring contest with a mule deer.

We both stood perfectly still.

Then it lowered its head and began to drink from one of the pot holes.

I took a few steps to try and change my vantage point, and at that moment a buck with large antlers came bounding up from out of sight.  With his signal, four more deer appeared seemingly out of nowhere and the herd was bounding off together over the ridge and out of sight.

Even on a day when I was the only other hiker on the trail, I would have missed them entirely had I not stopped every so often and looked around.

I think we often go outside and go hiking and go biking and go running and can even be extremely active outdoors, but sometimes we forget to just go and be still.

“Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.” 

~ Pslam 46:10 ~

First Snow

I woke up this morning to snow on the ground.
Most of it melted away shortly after some direct sunlight, but a lot of it remains in the shade of the cliffs.

When I first arrived to Arches in 100° weather, I definitely did not expect to see snow during my time here.
It's been interesting to experience the seasonal change in this region.

Beautiful all around.

Arches TrailLapse

There have been a couple of videos featuring the Appalachian Trail edited together in a time lapse fashion.  I found these fascinating and was inspired to create one for Arches National Park.

I took over 4,700 photos while hiking the majority of the trails over a couple of days.

This is the result.

Arches National Park in six minutes.

Desert Aroma

Mighty Mice

They have invaded.
The battle begins.

Psalm 19:1-4

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voicet goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun."

Of Mice Chipmunks and Men

The Hopi Chipmunk.

These little guys are everywhere; this particular one was found at Partition Arch. He approached us as we were taking a break in the cool shade. He, no doubt, could recognize the sight of hikers pulling out lunch sacks and sandwiches, as he quickly began to move in closer and closer to where we were sitting for our lunch break. At one point, I literally could have reached out and handed him a piece of granola bar. Tempting, but illegal.

This is a common regulation posted in National Parks. The animals need to be able to feed themselves, otherwise they will become dependent upon humans for handouts and could harm their natural way of life (or in the case of bears and other large animals, could present danger to humans).

After realizing that the intern drive-thru was closed, the little Hopi chipmunk scampered over to some European tourists and started looking as cute as ever. Sure enough, the family dug out some Funyuns and began holding little pieces out in the palm of their hand. Drive-thru now open, would you like fries with that?

Not being on duty or in uniform, we couldn't exactly tell them to stop, but we could still voice our concern as fellow lovers of the park. We donned our packs and gently walked over to the feeding session, harmlessly scaring off the chipmunk, and with smiles on our faces said, "Hey, that doesn't look like chipmunk food!"

They managed a brief chuckle, and as soon as we passed by, the Funyun hand stretched out once again.

I wished them luck, knowing that we also have bears and mountain lions in the area.

Survival

It's hot.

I don't know if it's actually the heat or just the constant and direct sunlight that's making me as lethargic as I am. The eight hour geology lesson may have also had something to do with it.

I'm drinking lots of water (you kinda have to in the desert) and eating lots of granola bars (thank you, Chris Benson).

So far, the desert is more appealing to me in early morning and late afternoon/evening. But no matter what time of day I'm out, I'm constantly being reminded of how so many plants and animals are able to survive in this harsh environment.

For example, the Utah Juniper tree can live for hundreds of years in the desert. Hundreds of years! It will make use of the water it receives by shooting its roots deep into the cracks of rocks and crevices, collecting water that sometimes gets trapped long after rainfall. When that isn't enough, the tree will decide to "cut off" one of its limbs by restricting water flow to that limb. That branch's water valve is closed off, but the tree as a whole continues living.

It's like if you decided to cut off your arm so that you could survive. The Aron Ralston tree.

Survival.

Looking out from Grand View Point in Canyonlands National Park.

Exploring Devil's Garden

Went hiking yesterday through an area of the park called Devil's Garden, passing several different arches including Landscape and Double O Arch. Hiking at sunset is definitely the way to go right now. Cool and absolutely beautiful. Both my hikes the past two nights have resulted in me walking a couple miles back in the dark, with only the moon and my occasional headlamp to guide me. I love it.