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September 5, 2015

Utah: So Much More Than Polygamy

Using BuzzFeed’s 29 Surreal Places in America You Need to Visit Before You Die as my American travel bucket list, I started researching the spectacular sights in my area. One of the features, Zion National Park, was a short day trip drive away from my home.

So, with a weekend as my timeline, I packed up me and my roommate, Memphis, and headed up the road toward Utah. For those who have never met Memphis, he adores me. He’s kinda like a clingy boyfriend who wants to be loved on non-stop, all the time. ALL THE TIME. NON-STOP. I reserved a room at the pet-friendly La Qinta Inn Resort about three miles from the park entrance. After the long drive, I just wanted to sit in bed and watch TV until I knocked out from exhaustion. He wanted his belly rubbed all night! Then he got all this energy and decided to jump from bed to bed like a little kid in a hotel. After some compromising on both our parts, sleep found us. The next morning, in little kid fashion, I woke up to Memphis walking in my back ready to go before 7 am on a Saturday. After convincing him to hit the snooze button, I headed out of the lodge for the complimentary breakfast provided by the hotel, and had my breath taken away as soon as I stepped outside my door.

First thing I saw when I stepped outside my hotel room.

In my travel journal, I wrote:

You know when you leave your concrete jungle and drive all night in the dark, just you and the GPSs, and you can’t really see all that’s changed right in front of you….that same experience after driving in southern Germany in pitch blackness all night and go straight to bed once you get to your hotel….then you wake up, go outside in the sunrise and you find yourself surrounded by the astounding beauty of the Alps for the first time…I just got that feeling again this morning.

I just couldn’t believe how beautiful this place in America was. I couldn’t believe it’s been here all along and I was just now discovering it for myself. In the dark, I missed how the landscape changed around me. This was literary the same breathtaking beauty I’d experienced while road tripping with my mom and niece along the German-Swiss boarder in pitch darkness unaware of all the beauty that surrounded me until morning.

Memphis and I loaded up the car and drove three miles to sit in the longest line outside the gate. At 0900, I was already behind the early bird curve to get into the park. I flashed my park pass (which is a free annual pass if you are a Federal Government worker) and got informed by the gate staff that there is only one trail in the whole 229 square mile park that Memphis was allowed to travel. I was initially disgruntled that my only option with my companion was the Pa’rus Trail. Turns out, that was one heck of a trail. It’s about two miles in length following the river, and gorgeous views at every turn. I was surrounded by beauty all around. Again, I was overwhelmed with disbelief that this wonderland is still part of my country. I had a hard time grasping that this place, so drastically different from where I grew up is still part of the same nation.

Beautiful Trail for dogs

While on the trail, I met an upper middle-aged couple taking pictures with their big fancy cameras. Turns out they were from Connecticut.

“We’re not tourists,” the husband said. “We’ve lived here for seven years and we still come on weekends to take a picture. There’s just so much to see at different times of day and year,” he said. And I believed it. The walk out on the trail was vastly different from the walk back. I couldn’t stop taking pictures!

This weekend I realized this was the most amount of time I’ve ever spent, non-stop with my roommate. I got Memphis from the side of the road when he was a tiny two month old (the Vet’s estimation). He was abandoned with ribs showing. Then I went off to some summer training. My parents took care of him while I finished out college then for my first job out of college. Then When I went overseas. So I finally got him full-time when I moved to SoCal…seven years later. I got to see all his weird habits. Smell every smell he produced (never knew I had a gassy dog). I learned he is incredibly protective. He wasn’t really cool with men approaching me but would run up to women just sitting on park benches minding their own business and sit in their laps like he belonged there (they welcomed him). I learned he is just as adventurous and athletic as me. If I said, let’s go climb that mountain, he be down. If and when I said, let’s swim this river. He was game. Miles and miles we explored and was always ready to follow me down the rabbit hole. I told my mom, who kept Memphis for me for years as I traveled, that her baby got to be a dog this weekend. No lounging in the house being a pampered pouch, this little Kentucky dog was out exploring America.

I got a little saddle time in too. On the other side of the park (opposite the Springdale Gate) I discovered a charming ranch and had to stop to check it out. At Zion Mountain Ranch, three girls with my name (rarity) went horseback riding. While saddled up we talked about the things that tend to bring strangers together: travel, food, adventures, and guys. One girl was from the same SoCal area I live in now. She visited Zion a year ago, fell in love with the area, and moved there. She grew up on horses and got a job at the ranch, went to college nearby, and found a Utah cowboy to love. I asked her take on Utah men vice California ones, because for a southern girl, California guys were like nothing I’d come across before. Fellas who cut their own grass, and maintain their own cars, and do handy work around the house seemed to be rare in SoCal according to the native and me, the newbie. Traditional courtship is harder to find in SoCal than Utah apparently. This region of Utah is considered the high desert and snows mercilessly in the winter. As a Cali girl, her first winter was unbarable. So she, being of similar spirit as me, planned to spend next winter in Thailand with her beau. I love that idea…avoid the winter!

The ranch had a spring of new arrivals. Three mares came up mysteriously pregnant. One mare just dropped a foal without showing any signs of pregnancy. In fact, she’d been ridden pretty long earlier that day and no one was none the wiser until a baby just fell out of her like no big deal. Well eventually, the stealthy stallion was caught in the act. He got castrated. But he sired four new foals before being caught. Watching the new-borns keeping up with their mamas as they sprinted across the ranch was a sight to see.

It was on this ranch that I finally got to see Buffalo! I was disappointed I never saw them while driving across the plains on my Cross-Country Road trip. Zion Mountain Ranch is a buffalo preserve and hundreds of buffalo roam freely here. Kinda like big cows. Not as exciting as I’d hoped. But one of the girls got to have a cowboy-esqu adventure when buffalo left the preserve and it took three folks on horses to corral them back into their safe zone. Apparently, a sole rider on a horse can scare an adolescent buffalo back to the preserve. And older, adult male is not phased by a horse and might actually try to take one on. With the quaint cabins at the ranch, coupled by the beauty of the park and outdoor adventure opportunity, I couldn’t help but the think how absolutely romantic this area had the potential to be (Honeymoon spot!).

So many diverse people from all over the world come to visit the ranch mostly wanting the ultimate cowboy experience. I was regaled with funny, heart warming, amusing tales of some of the visitors to the park the guide had encountered.

If you get a chance, try this beer. FYI: In Utah, you are not allowed to have alcohol without food to go with it.

While the three of us rode our horses we discussed the Utah stereotypes. The first thing a lot of Americans think of when they consider Utah is Mormonism and possibly polygamy. On this trip I learned polygamy is not accepted by Latter Day Saints. Polygamist may call themselves Mormon, but Mormons don’t accept them as Mormon, Kinda like Baptists don’t claim Westboro Baptists. You can usually tell the polygamist by their uniform of formless pastel-colored dresses reaching down to the ground and Rapunzel-like tresses. They tend to live in more remote areas and not common all over Utah. A walk around the local Wal-Mart will be the most likely place for this cultural tourism (in fact, Wal-Mart seems to be the place for sub-culture tourism wherever you are).

Me at Bryce Canyon

Some 70 percent or so of Utah is preserved as a public state or national park. In addition to Zion, there’s Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Moab, Red Fleet, Monument Valley and more. Each park vastly different from the other. I don’t get a lot of that back home in the south. A state park in Kentucky is almost indistinguishable from a state park in Alabama (with the exception of Mammoth Cave National Park). It’s a shame that the narrative of this state is centered around this counter-culture when the glory of Utah is its geo-diversity should be highlighted. Sure, the prevalence of Later Day Saint churches does stand out more than other states, but Utah is a big, beautiful, diverse state. Utah has so much more to offer than that one minute, unique aspect. And I guess that’s the same for people. A person can be as amazing as Utah but have one negative aspect or make one mistake and that’s the part people will emphasize the most.

This trip was mesmerizing. I got to share it with my favorite roommate and made new friends. This region instantly captured my heart and now is my American favorite. I cannot wait to visit Southern Utah again.

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Weekend Of Canyoneering

I got a taste of the southern Utah and had to go back! With This BuzzFeed article as my inspiration, I decided to get active for my Memorial Day. I plotted my course to see it all in 4 days:

Grand Canyon National park
Antelope Canyon
Horseshoe Bend
Bryce Canyon National Park
Zion National park

I spent Friday night after work in Vegas where my co-worker was having an epic co-ed bachelor/bachelorette party in Vegas. I learned that I am much to old to be trying to keep up with recent college grads. It was a Friday night, I’d put in a full week’s worth of work and just drove three hours. I was ready to chill. they were ready to wild out. Standing in long lines while my stilettos pained my feet was not of interest to me tonight. I was also training for a fitness competition and couldn’t consume alcohol or carbs. So I kept it low-key, and turned in relatively early for a night in Las Vegas. I started my day as everyone else was going to bed and continued my journey. I had national parks to see!

See more Lake Havasu photo here

The same co-worker, a recent college grad, once spoke enthusiastically about wanting to have Spring Break party trips to Lake Havasu. I’d never heard of the place. Being a southern girl my initial thoughts were why would you go to a lake in the middle of the desert to spring break on a lake when there’s Panama City Beach, Destin, Myrtle Beach, or Hilton Head? But apparently for West Coast Kids, Lake Havasu is the place to spend a week-long break from school. Well, I passed the lake on my way to the grand Canyon. I was traveling solo and this wasn’t on the itinerary but after watching groups of friends zip around on jet skis I could certainly envision spring break memories here. Why on Earth was I just now being introduced to this desert paradise?

Grand Canyon.
About six hours later I finally made it to the Canyon of Canyons! Have you ever been to a place that reminds you of a song? Well, The whole time John Michael Montgomery’s “Ain’t Got Nuthin on Us” played in my mind as the sound track of this adventure.

Yes, the Grand Canyon was a sight to see. But I’d already seen Zion Canyon and quite frankly, although smaller, I found it more beautiful. That could also be partly to the low visibility and drizzly conditions I found the Grand Canyon. It was chilly and wet and smelled like donkey doo the whole walk.

Going all the way down to the bottom of the Canyon is a 20-mile, round trip and requires overnight camping, training, and planning. I did an 8 hour round-trip walk down the canyon using the Angel Trail. Clearly, this is an all day adventure. I think anyone with a strategy can handle the trip but it is strenuous even for the physically fit. You need to be well-researched and prepared. On this hike you are battling altitude, the elements, hunger (no vending machines on the trail) dehydration, and boredom! So hike smart. The trip down is faster than the trip up (of course) but be sure if you are planning an 8 hour trip you account for breaks and the harder journey back up. This is not a four hours down four hours back up kind of trip. It’s more like three hours down, five hours up.

The views were awe inspiring. I was just surrounded by greatness.


The views were captivating

And very serene and peaceful

After this eventful, physically straining, long day, I hoped in my car and continued the ride toward Horseshoe bend. It was pretty late once I made it to Page, AZ. Prior to leaving a did a google search for hotels here and not a darn one showed vacancies. Not being one to let a little detail like lodging derail my adventure I came anyway to try my luck at cancellations. I did some calling around (thank goodness for a smart phone) to no avail. I asked the lady at the gas station for names of near-by cities with hotels. she said, this was it. There was nothing between flag staff and Zion but Page, AZ. But she directed me to with Wal-Mart parking lot. She said everyone keep coming in and asking for advice on lodging options but the town is small and there just aren’t hotels. But they were building more to accommodate the tourist flow. But the Wal-Mart just across the street seemed ot be the overflow favorite. Sure enough, midnight in Wal-Mart was poppin’ with everyone there buying pillows, blankets, and all that other good stuff. So, I did the same. The back parking lot was a makeshift camp ground. Actual RV camping vehicles were interspersed with cars and trucks lodging tourists like me. Being 4 foot, 4 1/4 inches tall does have its benefits. I found the backseat of my sedan comfortable and it wasn’t long before I was knocked out. It rained that night.

I woke up like this! In the back seat of my Japanese car.

I woke up to a nearly empty parking lot at dawn’s first light. Droves of Wal-Mart campers were making the trek across the parking lot, toiletry bag in hand, inside the super store to use the restroom. It was quite the sight to see. Everyone brushing their teeth and straightening up in the public bathroom.

Horseshoe Bend

I made it to Horseshoe bend down the street from the Wal-mart before 6 am and before all the crowds. Entrance to this natural wonder is free. It’s a walk up a steep hill plus a bout 3/4 of a mile walk to the bend. It’s quiet and peaceful on the Colorado River in the morning. Plenty of time and space to take pictures. It also has the potential to be very dangerous as there are no natural fall prevention features so if you’re with children, stay vigilant.

Antelope Canyon

Now the cool part of Antelope Canyon is Navajo Nation Park. Not a U.S. National park. So your annual park pass will not get you access. You’ll have to pay separately and plan ahead (four months) and get a reservation to see the cool sights like the wave. With your National Park pass you still get to see the gorgeous northern Arizona/Southern Utah views.

This is the cool part. You can learn more at discoverAmerica.com and more info at http://utah.com/the-wave

Other gorgeous views of The Utah-Arizona boarder!

I took a boat ride through the Northern part of Antelope Canyon. The boat tours offered an introduction to all the Navajo history you never learned in school. The Navajos here had a successful resistance against the U.S. Army who was sent on a mission to round up all the American in the area. The Navajos had to be invisible. That meant, no noise, no fires, no cooking. Many of them camped out right at the top of ridges like the ones in the pictures while the army cruised the Colorado River by boat.

Now, I will admit, I am not a Native American History guru by any means. All I ever learned in school was there was this Indian removal act of 1830 then The Trail of Tears. Then Indians went practically extinct, the end. It was really sad but a necessary evil for Manifest Destiny. Cus “Murica! That was high school. Even as a history major in undergrad, I was able to graduate without the acknowledgment of American Indians. In my graduate work, one of my cross-cultural professors was a blue-eyed, pale-skin Indian. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian was part of our reading list.

Although the views were beautiful on their own, photo editing works wonders.

There is an amazing stories of resilience and warrior spirit that is at the very heart of all that it means to be American in Native American history, and I find it a shame that it isn’t taught more in our schools. Even with the resistance a majority of Navajos still were captured and had to endure 13 miles a day at gunpoint during the event termed as “The Long Walk.” It’s a collective, historical trauma that unites Navajos with a common history as well as connect the Navajo’s Long walk with the Trail of Tears of the Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Muskogee.

The whole region is just a collection of interesting, natural beauty to see. I took the opportunity for an improve photoshoot in sandstone. I had visions of a high fashion photo shoot of models voguing on the sandstone in stilettos with wind blowing their impractical flowy gowns with striking, peacockesque make-up. But, since I don’t have the skill or resources, I got me, barefoot in a tee shirt and Capri pants.

Since I got up at the crack of dawn, I packed a lot in. I’d been on a boat cruise, seen the hanging garden (a little bit of a letdown…it’s just leaves growing on a rock wall), went on walks, splashed by the river. By noon, I’d seen and done all the highlights of the area. I took some time to rest and relax. do a little reflection, writing, reading, and picnicking.

After lunch, I revisited horseshoe bend under different lighting (and a higher tourist population). I started wrapping up to get on the road and travel onward before I got too tired and the roads got dark. The weather changed quickly. In fact, in the span of the day, it went from cold enough to sear long sleeves and a vest to sweating in short sleeves, then it poured down rain out of nowhere, to cold again.

After the rain on the way out of Arizona and into Utah.

I think I look a bit off here, but hey, I camped in the backseat of m y car.

Bryce Canyon

I continued the journey north, skipping Zion Canyon and heading straight to Bryce Canyon. I saved money on lodging in favor of camping out in my car again int he national park. That way, I’d skip the line and be able to start my day in the park.

Just an hour north

Bryce Canyon distinguishes itself from the others with it’s natural amphitheaters and hoodoos which I never learned about during geography class. I mean, I remember mesas, plateaus, mountains, and what not but hoodoo was a new one for me. But they are quite interesting to see. The temperature was significantly cooler as I hiked in higher altitudes.

I love Bryce Canyon because it is so distinctively different from the other four nearby canyons nearby and yet equal in beauty and charm. That’s similar to the discovery I made while living in Germany. In Germany, perfect blue skies are hard to come by. You learn to embrace the grey skies just as the blue and realize that beautiful days come during the rain, fog, and snow as well. Just like people. It seems like with the relatively new, American body positivity movement that America has had the epiphany that beauty can exist in different, even contrasting forms. You can have a group of women with different skin colors, hair lengths and textures, body shapes and sizes and all of them still be beautiful just like land forms. We are surrounded by beauty regardless if we are in canyons or suburbia or the big city whether or not we chose to see the beauty is up to us as individuals. It doesn’t have to be a competition. It’s okay to love all the canyons equally for different reasons. The Grand Canyon is humbling with it’s massive size and reminds me of that there are forces greater than one’s self out there. The same force that carved the canyon also designed the wonder of horseshoe bend. The history of Antelope Canyons is a reminder of strength and resilience.

I topped off my canyoneering weekend with a trip to Zion. Since I’d already spent some time here, I could relax more than explore. I took the opportunity to stretch out my muscles after sleeping in my car and taking on some hard hikes, I really needed a massage but stretch helped too.

It was an exhausting, physically challenging long weekend. I got comfortable sleeping without fancy accommodations, learned to appreciate and recognize beauty in differences more, had my breath taken away by the Grand Canyon, and did some killer hiking, climbing and overall canyoneering.

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