Somewhere in the evening hours of day 5, we realized that in order to meet our new lifelong goal of hitting up The Big 5, we needed to get up extra early in order to get to Canyonlands before heading to our afternoon excursion in Colorado.
Even with a tinge of wildfire smoke, the crisp and still early morning mountain air was intoxicating.
We shared the trail with maybe three other hikers on our way out. It was silent (except for our noisy bunch) and absolutely breathtaking. This hike gets the prize for the suprising underdog of the trip and one we are most glad we didn't skip. It was incredible.
The smoke made it hard to tell where the canyonlands ended and the clouds began. It all seemed to stretch on forever.
This rock has haunted my nightmares since we've been back. This configuration accurately depicts our family, although Noah assures me he would have been brave enough to hop onto it if I hadn't freaked out so much when Adam did. Sheer. Drop. Off. My palms are sweaty just thinking about it.
Thank you to the patient solo hiker who offered to take our picture, seen here in shadow. I wonder how many brave but unsafe solo hikers just disappear in these parks every year.
A heart and a babe!
This morning completed our Utah's Big 5 journey! Epic and unexpected, we all left with the desire to spend more time in these national parks soon! As much as we love living in Iowa, we really, really love remembering that there is a vast and varied and incredible world all around us.
Also, this sums up some of our hikes accurately- in case I forget some day, this little boy is saying, "come over. It's a suprise! Do you like surprises?" Ha!
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