Bryce Canyon

     We had to bring the trailer back to Salt Lake, so I did not walk yesterday or today. We will pick up the walk again just East of Zion's National Park tomorrow. I will also get to start staying with my sister Sue and her family, the Arbons. They are awesome hosts and incredibly fun.

     Last week, we took a side trip to Bryce Canyon. Bryce is perhaps my most favorite of all National Parks. It has some the most varied and unique rock formations I have seen anywhere, and a feeling about it that is hard to describe. It is absolutely stunning to stand on the rim looking down, but for me, the best experience is from the bottom looking up. It is easy to see and feel why this place was considered sacred. I found myself wishing we could linger at the bottom and just soak up the atmosphere.

     Going down, we took the Queen’s Garden Loop, and the much steeper Navajo Loop coming back up. Kara asked several people before we started if the path was safe for someone on crutches. They all said no. She really didn’t want me to go down. I said lets go find out. She made me promise to stay as far away from the edge as possible. Next thing you know, I am headed down the path and some distance behind me was Kara and Elise, both of them clinging to the rocks and tentatively inching their way down. They don’t do well with heights.

     As I paused and waited for the girls to catch up we were passed by Craig and Lenny, two gentlemen from Florida who were in the middle of a Vegas, Bryce, Zion’s vacation. They commented on seeing a guy on crutches working his way down the steep path and that started a conversation that continued nearly non-stop for the better part of an hour while we made our way to the bottom, where we met their wives coming from the other direction, just short of the Queen’s Garden.

     These guys were so enjoyable. They were just a pleasure to be around. We were wearing our infamous yellow/green highlighter shirts, and of course a lot of the conversation revolved around my walk to raise funds for kids needing prosthetics. They were so supportive. At one point, Lenny had stopped to take a picture of an unusual dead tree while we went on ahead. When he caught up to us several minutes later he explained that he had been telling some other hikers about my walk and they had given him $10 to pass along to me. I told him he was hired. Watching Lenny talk about getting the $10, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a little kid telling about something amazing he had just done. He was fun to listen to.

     When we met up with their wives, the ladies talked them into returning up the path we had just walked down, so our journey together ended. I would miss their comradeship for the rest of the hike, and I kept thinking every time I saw something new and spectacular, “man, I wish Craig and Lenny could have seen this.”

     Craig and Lenny both made sizable donations when they got back to their computers. I was grateful to have met them. I got an email later from Lenny who told me that he has a health condition that makes physical activity painful, but from the moment he met up with us, he said he felt no pain for the rest of the walk. I think the benefit was equally mutual. They really lifted my spirits and reinforced my belief in the universal goodness of people.

     We took two cameras with us. One ran out of batteries when we reached the Queen’s Garden, and the other ran out just short of the top. But we manage to get a few good pictures, and it really is impossible to capture what the eye can see with a camera anyway.

     Half way up the Navajo loop we met some ladies who were traveling with a group from Canada. They were so nice. They kept us company up the steepest part of the climb, stopping on a switchback to take pictures of us and donate to the kids. Not long afterward, a gust of wind blew off one of the lady’s hats and it flew right into the arms of her friend behind her. She was amazed at her good luck, but her friend said, “It’s because you did a good deed!” Works for me.

     When we were done, we were all pooped, but we were also well rewarded for our efforts. Kara and Elise both wanted to make this an annual trip – come to Bryce in the fall when it is cool and the colors spectacular, and spend the day hiking through the spires, hoodoos and trees. Sounds like an awesome way to spend some family time.