April 12th

It’s a good thing I got out those boots yesterday, as I did a lot of hiking today in varied terrain and weather.

First, I passed some colorful hills called “Big Rock Candy Mountain”. Next was Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It’s a huge area and has 4 visitor centers. I went to Cannondale (the closest to where I was coming from) and was referred to the adjoining Kodachrome Basin State Park. I was in the visitor center just long enough to learn that the Monument will be only half as huge once the current administration’s Department of Interior gets through giving away its land to special interests.

Kodachrome Park is so named for its colorful cliffs, though unless Paul Simon’s song remains popular, our grandchildren visiting will think that Kodachrome must be the name of an old Native American tribe. I went for a few hikes around the rock formations and two box (mini) canyons.

Then on to Bryce Canyon, my favorite of the parks Rachel and I visited on our bus tour one and a half years ago. It’s still winter there, so there were only 3 trails open. I hiked all three, most important Queen’s Garden Trail, which goes down into the Amphitheater (it’s technically not a canyon), where all the famous hoodoos (stones pointing up) are at. Just after I huffed and puffed my way back up to the rim, there was a sudden snow/hail barrage that lasted about 10 minutes. My remaining time in the park alternated between peeks of sun and more snow. A great adventure!

Two songs for today. “Big Rock Candy Mountain”, first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928. And “Born on the Bayou” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, which mentions hoodoos.