Early Saturday

It's a rainy Saturday morning, and my coffee and I are chilling. I have no major plans for the day. Small errand plans, but no major plans. I woke up too early for a Saturday morning, about 5:30. That's an hour later than the time I get up on weekdays, but still .... too early for a weekend. I try to sleep later on weekends, but basically I'm an early morning person. No matter what I do it's almost impossible for me to sleep beyond about 7:00 at the latest. Late nights are hard for me. I get sleepy pretty early in the evening.

To keep the post from being too boring I added a picture of Delicate Arch taken at sun-up last summer when we were in Arches National Park. I suppose it's a good thing I'm an early morning person since I tend to take vacation in August. In Utah in August it's better to hike very early in the morning. This particular hike up to Delicate Arch is short. Pretty steep in places, but short, so I usually hike it early on the day I'm leaving to go home. The other good thing about hiking this one early is that it's a popular hike. Later in the day, there are usually people everywhere .... even in the baking heat.

There are four national parks that I like to go to in Utah. Every time I'm out there I go to Zion Canyon National Park and hike the Angel's Landing Trail. It's one of my favorite trails because the last half mile is what I call a "scramble". Almost more of a climb than a hike. Way fun. This picture is from the top of the trail looking back and down at the ridge that the trail comes across. So I go to Zion every time. The other three parks I may or may not make depending on how much time I have, but if I have the time, I do all four. I usually start at Zion then move back across the state, going to Bryce Canyon next, followed by Capital Reef and then Arches last. I always intend to go to Canyonlands also, but never seem to get there because I enjoy the other four parks so much.

Bryce may be the most beautiful of the parks. It certainly seems to be the most visited and filled with tourists. The views are spectacular though. I have a million picture of Bryce, and none of them really do it justice. It's difficult to get the perspective of the place in pictures. Some day I'll round up all my pictures of the four parks and do a post on each one. The picture I posted some time ago of my friend in the campsite was taken at Bryce. The campground is in a pine forest and tends to be cool. Which is usually a nice change form the heat in Zion.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Capital Reef. It's probably the least well known park of the four, but it was the first park I ever camped in in Utah. Multiple years ago I threw camping gear in my car and started driving west. That was when I realized that there are five national parks in Utah and also realized how amazing parts of the state are. Capital Reef was one of the places I stopped and camped and hiked. I just like it a lot. It's got huge old cottonwoods around the campground, fruit orchards, petroglyphs, and of course the unique terrain of Utah. Plus I've watched it grow from a small national park with barely one campground to a nice-sized, comfortable place to visit. The best word I have for Capital Reef is "peaceful". 1993 was the first year I camped there.

And of course, last but certainly not least, Arches is an awesome place. In recent years I've gotten in the habit of "hoteling it" in Moab and day hiking from there rather than camping in Arches itself. That's because I'm generally ready to clean up in a hotel by the time I get to Arches, and because Arches campground is small. If you don't get there early, there are no places left. I have enjoyed camping in Arches also though. Last year one of the arches fell before we got there and a trail was blocked. It was okay though, because my favorite arches and formations were fine and there was still access to them via another trail.

So after I spend time vacationing in Utah I usually end up on my sister's doorstep. She lives in Colorado, and it's certainly no hardship to visit my Colorado relatives while I'm on vacation. Colorado is also beautiful, but in entirely different ways than Utah. I also have more trouble hiking in Colorado due to the elevation. I'm definitely a flat-lander. I can hike there, but it's slower. I have to take more time to stop and just breathe.

I hope I get out to Utah this summer. My schedule is pretty full this year, but I'm going to try to go.

It's raining this morning, but looks like it's beginning to stop. It's supposed to clear up later. Looks like I'll have to mow the lawn again as soon as it dries out. This time of year I mow more than once a week or it gets out of hand.

Anyway, just thought I'd do a short post while I'm drinking my coffee and waiting for the rest of the world to rise and shine. I'll leave you with a picture of fat cat sleeping.