I immediately felt better about life as I entered Utah. I think Southern Utah is my favorite place in the world. And then I checked my account balances, and I'd miraculously received my unemployment payment. I celebrated with lunch at Cafe Rio.
I dipped back into Arizona briefly to drive through Colorado City, a notorious polygamist community. This place was so creepy. Most of the houses are unfinished, which I heard they do because they don't have to pay property taxes on them. The houses are huge and look like motels. Most are fenced in, but the yards I could see were littered with kids' toys. I saw kids playing, and women driving around in SUV's, but no men. It was a weekday, so maybe they were at work? Oh, the other creepy thing is that this town has a population of like, 5,000 people, but no stores or restaurants. Just a gas station (which I did not stop at).
My next stop was Pipe Spring National Monument. It's kind of an odd place... A Mormon pioneer settlement in the middle of the desert. It was a tithing ranch, which meant that, when people tithed (sometimes in the form of cattle or other goods) it went there. Some of the people who ran it were polygamists. The Paiute Indians had originally depended on the spring, and the Mormons took it over, so they faced starvation and other difficulties. My tour guide was a girl from Holland, MI, and I was the only person on the tour. We are both reading the book "Under the Banner of Heaven," so we quickly bonded over how creepy the fundamentalist Mormons are.
I drove up through Kanab and camped in Dixie National Forest. As it got dark, a dad came over and asked me if I needed help with my tent. Those Mormons are so darn nice.
Today I visited Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is similar to Bryce. Beautiful, but I didn't spend much time there. Then I headed to Bryce. Two years ago, I hiked the 8 mile Fairyland trail and fell in love. I had the same feeling of awe today when I looked out over the canyon for the first time. This place doesn't seem real. It's like a painting, or like someone created this magical place.
I was eager to do the most famous trails here, the Queen's Garden/Navajo loop. It was beautiful, but I think I liked the Fairyland trail better. Towards the end, there were tons of switchbacks leading out of the canyon that reminded me of Walter's Wiggles at Zion. I wasn't feeling well and almost passed out.
I spent the rest of the day reading and planning the canyons I'm going to hike for the rest of my trip. Good times are ahead.
I dipped back into Arizona briefly to drive through Colorado City, a notorious polygamist community. This place was so creepy. Most of the houses are unfinished, which I heard they do because they don't have to pay property taxes on them. The houses are huge and look like motels. Most are fenced in, but the yards I could see were littered with kids' toys. I saw kids playing, and women driving around in SUV's, but no men. It was a weekday, so maybe they were at work? Oh, the other creepy thing is that this town has a population of like, 5,000 people, but no stores or restaurants. Just a gas station (which I did not stop at).
My next stop was Pipe Spring National Monument. It's kind of an odd place... A Mormon pioneer settlement in the middle of the desert. It was a tithing ranch, which meant that, when people tithed (sometimes in the form of cattle or other goods) it went there. Some of the people who ran it were polygamists. The Paiute Indians had originally depended on the spring, and the Mormons took it over, so they faced starvation and other difficulties. My tour guide was a girl from Holland, MI, and I was the only person on the tour. We are both reading the book "Under the Banner of Heaven," so we quickly bonded over how creepy the fundamentalist Mormons are.
I drove up through Kanab and camped in Dixie National Forest. As it got dark, a dad came over and asked me if I needed help with my tent. Those Mormons are so darn nice.
Today I visited Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is similar to Bryce. Beautiful, but I didn't spend much time there. Then I headed to Bryce. Two years ago, I hiked the 8 mile Fairyland trail and fell in love. I had the same feeling of awe today when I looked out over the canyon for the first time. This place doesn't seem real. It's like a painting, or like someone created this magical place.
I was eager to do the most famous trails here, the Queen's Garden/Navajo loop. It was beautiful, but I think I liked the Fairyland trail better. Towards the end, there were tons of switchbacks leading out of the canyon that reminded me of Walter's Wiggles at Zion. I wasn't feeling well and almost passed out.
I spent the rest of the day reading and planning the canyons I'm going to hike for the rest of my trip. Good times are ahead.
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