The next day was the day I was most excited about. We had to
drive from Bryce to Page, and I asked my dad if he trust me to plan the day. I
agonized over which dirt road to take- Skutumpah or Cottonwood Canyon? I
finally decided that Cottonwood had more to offer.
We began at Kodachrome Basin State Park, which is basically
a valley of dildos. The rock formations are actually obscene. This place is
just begging for dirty jokes, but I hadn’t anticipated how awkward that would
be around my parents…
We stopped to see Grosvenor Arch
and then continued on to the trailhead for the Cottonwood
Narrows. This was by far the most
fun part of the trip. I got to show my parents a slot canyon!
Mom and Dave were SO excited, and even Dad seemed impressed. It was different hiking with them because Mom and Dave stopped to notice every little detail. They know a lot about geology, which meant they knew what they were looking at and how it had formed. They were collecting rock specimens as they hiked, which meant it took us a LONG time to get through the narrows section. By the time we were done there, the novelty had worn off for Dad and he was ready to get out of the canyon. Unfortunately, we still had another 1.5 miles of soft sand to walk through. He was not happy.
Finally, we came to the exit. I felt so stupid when I realized we could've just done a car shuttle. I suggested that my parents and Dave find a nice place to sit while I hiked 1.5 miles uphill back to the cars, but they wouldn't hear of it. They wanted to finish what they'd started.
Dad and Dave took off up the hill, but Mom was struggling. I couldn't figure out why... I mean, she has bursitis, but she's in pretty good shape. When we finally arrived back at the cars, it all made sense. She was wearing 5 LAYERS (it was pretty cold when we started hiking) and had been stashing rocks in the pockets of all her jackets. It's like she was hiking uphill with weights!
Now that it's all said and done, my mom cannot stop talking about this hike. She refers to Cottonwood Canyon as "our canyon," which feels true because we had the whole place to ourselves. She even found a book about the canyon that she's been proudly showing to all of her piano kids (some of whom didn't even know what a canyon was).
We switched driving partners that day, so Dad rode with me. It was so peaceful, driving on deserted dirt roads in the desert, just me and my dad. We listened to the Avett Brothers, and I got a little misty eyed when we heard Murder in the City: "Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."
The day went by way too quickly. We had dinner at my new favorite restaurant in Page, Bonkers. We would head back to Phoenix the next day.
Mom and Dave were SO excited, and even Dad seemed impressed. It was different hiking with them because Mom and Dave stopped to notice every little detail. They know a lot about geology, which meant they knew what they were looking at and how it had formed. They were collecting rock specimens as they hiked, which meant it took us a LONG time to get through the narrows section. By the time we were done there, the novelty had worn off for Dad and he was ready to get out of the canyon. Unfortunately, we still had another 1.5 miles of soft sand to walk through. He was not happy.
Finally, we came to the exit. I felt so stupid when I realized we could've just done a car shuttle. I suggested that my parents and Dave find a nice place to sit while I hiked 1.5 miles uphill back to the cars, but they wouldn't hear of it. They wanted to finish what they'd started.
Dad and Dave took off up the hill, but Mom was struggling. I couldn't figure out why... I mean, she has bursitis, but she's in pretty good shape. When we finally arrived back at the cars, it all made sense. She was wearing 5 LAYERS (it was pretty cold when we started hiking) and had been stashing rocks in the pockets of all her jackets. It's like she was hiking uphill with weights!
Now that it's all said and done, my mom cannot stop talking about this hike. She refers to Cottonwood Canyon as "our canyon," which feels true because we had the whole place to ourselves. She even found a book about the canyon that she's been proudly showing to all of her piano kids (some of whom didn't even know what a canyon was).
We switched driving partners that day, so Dad rode with me. It was so peaceful, driving on deserted dirt roads in the desert, just me and my dad. We listened to the Avett Brothers, and I got a little misty eyed when we heard Murder in the City: "Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."
The day went by way too quickly. We had dinner at my new favorite restaurant in Page, Bonkers. We would head back to Phoenix the next day.
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