8-18-06
Start: The only tree for miles near Cisco, UT
Destination: Mile 24, Hwy 128, UT
Elevation: 4,085 ft.
Miles: 16.6
Weather: Clouded morning (nice!) and very HOT afternoon
We fell asleep last night only to awake to those darn yelping coyotes - about 3 or 4 times. Thankfully they never got too close. When we woke up this morning, we had a dry tent! Yes, it's happened! No rain, AND no condensation! It's amazing! Everything was bone dry. Yay! So we happily packed up with only the weight of our tent, not an extra couple pounds of water we can't use. No mess or mud, either.
We hiked through what felt like a giant sand box this morning. There were huge hills of sand spotted with a few clumps of sagebrush, and we meandered between them. We were very happy that there was a lot of cloud cover. It's hot by 8 am here, so we'll take it when we can get it! We trucked on down to the Colorado river, and saw a humongous bald eagle! Its wing span had to be 5 feet wide! It was very cool. We also saw two antelope and tons of bunnies and lizards. The little lizards scurry so quickly you sometimes can't even tell what they are, and they are really fun to watch.
We then got to the old Dewey Bridge, which is a neat old suspension bridge. No cars travel across it, and the thing is so narrow, I don't know how one could, anyway. It was originally built for horse and carriages, I believe.
We crossed the highway and hit our water jugs. Three full jugs just where we left them, safe and sound. We took our siesta, because it got super hot - the shade was even too hot to nap in! We waded in the river to cool off again, so that was a saver. We decided to move on once it got a little cooler.
We began walking Hwy 128 along the river, and the scenery quickly got bigger, redder, bigger, and more and more amazing. I have a sore neck from looking up! These canyons are just, well... there's really no one word for it. We drove through here when we dropped water, but walking really allows us to absorb its massiveness. It's like scenery overload x 10! Each corner offers a new canyon wall, more vibrant then the last. On top of that, the sun is constantly changing the shape and colors of the walls and edges. We even got a spectacular view of a red canyon wall, the river below, and behind it all, the La Sals peeking up from behind. Utah is really cool so far.
Now we're stealth camped along the road off in some bushes. We are falling asleep to the sound of the river, crickets, and the occasional passing car. We are being entertained by diving, spinning bats eating all the gnats (hate the gnats, love the bats!). Mom is just hoping one doesn't fly into the tent - now that would make for a great story! Good night!
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