On my recent jaunt, I had the privilege of seeing places in between; areas not as easily seen.
One place I walked through proved as memorable as I’d hoped. But also realized I’ve only seen a small portion of it and would need to return.
When Joan and I had a long weekend recently, we decided to visit this place and see what we could see.
On our first night, we enjoyed a quick campsite along my recently hiked route. The quiet and secluded place lent itself to a relaxing night before the backpacking trip.
PCO Joan.
The following morning we drove to where we could access an old but gentle cattle path that led to our destination.
PCO Joan.
On this trip, we walked in a different area than I had seen recently.
And, to no surprise, we saw evidence that this lush and water-blessed area contained many indications that people inhabited all the nooks and crannies.
Not long after we made camp, we spotted one of the more intricate panels we’d seen.
The still vibrant colors, the figures, and the size of the panel itself made it a highlight of our first day in the area.
We never tire of seeing these intricate images and getting a glimpse into the past.
Alas, we’d have to modify our two-night backpacking trip into an overnight but still have time to camp out another night. Joan suffered from a very uncomfortable allergy-induced rash from a type of grass growing quite a bit during this wet year.
And gave Joan a chance to record my “mosquito haiku.”
We’d come back some other time during cooler weather with, hopefully, less rash-inducing conditions.
We hiked out the following morning, returned to the truck, and filled our water jugs at a nearby spring with a colorful history.
PCO Joan
We also spotted a nearby line camp building built into the rock, which probably served as a way to keep things cool in the Utah desert.
PCO Joan.
We drove further up into the mountains and found another secluded camp in the pines that seemed far different from where we had camped the previous evening.
PCO Joan.
A hike led from our camp, and the near-Solstice sun lit up the surrounding rocks for an after-dinner stroll.
After a restful night, we enjoyed another hike to another lush area that people called home, if higher than the previous day.
We drove back through the mountain areas and considered our future trips.
With the over 90F weather in Moab, mountain season’s arrived. Time to walk the ridges, enjoy the forested paths, summit the alpine peaks, and leave the desert behind for a few months.
That panel looks awesome!