Anyway, this trip to Spiral Jetty was special because it turned into a nightmare. The video doesn’t show the nightmare (I turned my camera off), but it turns out there’s some tar dumped out there (WHO THE HELL DUMPS TAR IN A LAKE?!?!?!), and Haley and Jemma both stepped in it. Besides fearing they’d die from eating it off their feet, we all got to breathe in the tar fumes during the two-hour ride home. We tried to soap it off with handsoap from a public bathroom (failed), used heavy duty cleaners at a friend’s (failed, and not recommended), and scissors (also failed). Just as I was about to give up and call a vet, I googled dogs stepping in tar (seems like it should be a pretty common occurrence, only on roads instead of at a lake) and found the answer… vegetable oil. Vegetable oil will get tar off your dogs. It’s slow, but it works. And so now you know: if you ever find yourself in as terrible a situation as that, vegetable oil will save you.

Anyway, here’s a video of the nicer parts of that trip… before the nightmare began. And yes, the water really is that color. It’s not pollution, but salt-tolerant bacteria that thrives in that remote northern part of the lake.

Here are some neato photos from another trip to the Jetty. The water was much lower last year, and in my opinion, much more beautiful. Shallow water makes for an alien landscape. This year, it was about a foot deeper.

See, something happened on this trip and my feet stopped working. Not really sure what exactly did it, but it’s pretty safe to say that something in the combination of high and filthy water, miles of quicksand, and the heavy pack put super-strength stress on my kickers and totally raped my metatarsals. It began on day 3 (days 1 and 2 were pretty cool though, I will admit). By day 4, I basically couldn’t walk at all. However, when I took off my shoes, I could. It was weird, my shoes weren’t really fitting any differently, but something only felt right when I took them off. I proceeded to hike eight miles that day with no shoes on. That must have caused all sorts of its own problems, because now, three weeks later, I still can’t walk right. I have even gone to a podiatrist and everything. Of course, it hasn’t helped that the day after getting out of that blasted canyon, I had to pack up and move across the state. Then a couple days after that, I had to walk around Los Angeles for a week. Now I’m trying to stay off them, but it’s not really doing much. They are totally and completely wrecked. I’m sure I’m just being dramatic and they will heal sometime, but the idea of not being able to hike is really freaking me out. I’m getting married in four days and will embark on our epic honeymoon, and well, I’m afraid I won’t be able to walk for any of it! I know there are children dying in Africa, but my feet really hurt!

Okay fine, I get it, and I will shut the hell up now, but while you look at the few photos I took on this trip, I will sit here whining in my mind about how I hate that stupid canyon and its stupid, filthy water.

Death Valley is one of those places you grow up hearing about, but never give much thought to seeing yourself (at least in my experience). So it kind of took me by surprise when Jim mentioned the idea of going there this weekend. We knew we wanted to get out of town and go somewhere, but for such short trips, our ideas are always in Utah, Arizona, or Nevada. It never really occurred to me that California is pretty close too… after all, there’s an entire state in between here and there! But Jim’s idea to go to Death Valley seemed promising. I tweaked the driving route to better fit our short amount of time, got Friday off work, and we were ready to roll. Only one problem… the government might shut down and close all national parks! Gah! After chatting with a ranger, I decided we should go for it anyway, and if our incompetent government can’t get its shit together, we will adjust our plans accordingly. We hit the road by 9 on Friday, and despite a snowstorm and several bathroom breaks, we made it to Death Valley around 2 (and I didn’t even speed!). I was shocked at how fast and easy the trip was!

Not knowing if we’d be kicked out the next day, we opted to hit up the main attractions first: Zabriskie Point (pretty damn pretty), Artists Drive (boring), and Badwater Basin (excellent once you get past all the other visitors). Badwater Basin, for those who don’t know, is the lowest point in North America. It’s 282 feet BELOW sea level. What’s so incredible about it is that just a few miles away Telescope Peak towers at 11,043 feet. Now that is some serious elevation gain!

And as the afternoon rolled on, we were sick of the tourist crowd, so we headed over to West Side Road, a dirt road that runs along the opposite side of Badwater than the paved road. From West Side Road, you can access several backcountry roads that you’re allowed to camp off of (granted you’re at least two miles up them). We chose to go up Hanaupah Canyon… the canyon in Death Valley with the most vertical drop (from Telescope Peak right down to Badwater). We wound our way up 3.5 gnarly miles of “road” before pulling off at what would be our home for the night. We definitely picked the right place. From our little slice of heaven we could see Badwater below us and Telescope up above.

So, I don’t know if I wrote about it before, but I seriously LOVE my Xterra. Not just for the places it can take me, but for the fact that I can sleep in it. We slept in it at Toroweap a couple months back and it was superb. This time it was even better because 1. we didn’t have the dogs hogging up space, 2. we didn’t crack the windows, and 3. we brought extra pillows and blankets. Best camping night of sleep I’ve had in forever! I even woke up early and decided to set up a time-lapse video of the sunrise over Badwater… but when I checked it an hour later, it had shut itself off after half an hour. Gah! So I have a 5-minute video of the sky slightly changing colors, but that’s about all. Fail.

On Saturday, we packed up camp and set out to see if the park was closing, but it was open! Thanks government, for finally doing something right. Anyway, we headed north to Stovepipe Wells and did a quick hike up Mosaic Canyon and then headed out on the Mesquite Dunes. I live about twenty minutes from sand dunes, but I have never really been out on one, so I was very excited to play in the sand! Then we decided not to stay in Death Valley again that night, but rather head back to Vegas to be a little closer to home for Sunday’s drive back. We stopped in a ghost town called Rhyolite and also a brothel along Highway 95. No, we didn’t go for sex… it was at the GAS STATION! Ah, Nevada. We intended to camp again that night at Red Rocks or Valley of Fire, but when we were about 45 minutes outside of Vegas, we realized we were so close and would rather just go home and sleep in bed. So Jim took over the driving and we made it home at 10 pm. It still blows my mind that we left Friday and came back Saturday. We did SO MUCH and yet it didn’t feel exhausting at all. It really was the perfect quick getaway. And best of all, we had Sunday to relax at home (but of course, with a hike in town).

Death Valley is absolutely huge, and we didn’t have time or energy to see all of it, but it didn’t matter because we knew we’d be back. It is now one of my most favorite places ever. It’s funny how a place with death in the name can make you feel so alive. We did go at the perfect time of year (it was actually quite cold compared to normal), but I want to go back in the summer, because 1. I want to hike Telescope Peak when it’s not covered in snow, and 2. I actually really want to experience the deathly heat that Death Valley is famous for. I know it must be awful, but I want to feel what 125 degrees feels like. I just need a taste… then I’ll go to higher ground where it’s cooler. So, I don’t know when we’ll get back, but I can guarantee it will be sometime… and I can’t wait!

A few weeks back, I finally visited Shaman’s Gallery. This ancient pictograph panel had been on my hike list ever since I first moved to the desert, but I could never get there because I didn’t have the proper vehicle (or good directions). But now that I have a totally pimped out Xterra, I can finally get to places (well, if I have good directions). For Shaman’s, I got better than good directions… I got someone who’d already been there. So a few Saturdays back, my badass coworker Gary and I gathered some troops and hit the road. Three big-ass trucks in a row, we caravanned out to an incredibly remote spot in the Grand Canyon. Over two hours on a maze of dirt “roads” had me wondering if Gary really remembered the way from his trip nearly ten years ago… but he didn’t disappoint.

The hike was longer and steeper than anyone anticipated, but it was absolutely incredible. It was the first good hike of the season, and made me thirsty for more sweat. Along the trail, there’s fossilized seashells, and old cowboy camp, a mortar and pestle, and hidden in some trees across the wash from the panel is the raddest cactus I’ve ever seen. The panel itself is incredibly alien-like… strange, eerie figures instead of your typical bighorn and stick man. Words can’t really describe the place. The only thoughts that came to mind were about how completely untouched the whole area is. It made me appreciate the wide open spaces of the world even more than I already do.

The weather was a little unpredictable during our hike, but it only added to the allure of it all. Rainy, foggy, sunny, windy. We had it all while we were out there, but nothing was ever very strong. Pleasant all around. When we headed home, we made it to within five miles of the highway before the road seemed to detour from Kanab, apparently heading straight to hell. Contrary to the weather forecast, town had gotten completely dumped on with rain and snow all day. The road was shot, and the red dirt made everything a slippery mudslide. We were very fortunate that we were so far out on roads where we could have been in serious trouble, and the only place that was causing us problems was just a few miles from home. Anyway, it was scary (not deadly scary, but just fear of getting stuck in thick mud scary) but the Xterra pulled through and had a nice shiny coat of desert paint to show for it. I am very proud of her! A good purchase indeed!

last photo (of me) by Lizzy

Unfortunately, the dream turned nightmare when I discovered my dogs completely covered in deer ticks after the hike, and by picking them off them, several were transferred to me. I didn’t even know we had ticks down here, but Lydia’s Canyon is much more reminiscent of Vermont than southern Utah desert. An emergency trip to the clinic remedied this problem (thank you, Frontline!) and all is well now. I even kind of want to go back now that the dogs are now guarded against ticks for a month…

I’ve started writing freelance for the Outdoors section at the St. George Spectrum, and my second article will be on none other than this hike (it’s quite awesome making a few extra bucks for doing hikes I do anyway)! So if you’re around these southern Utah parts, pick up Friday’s paper (this week or next, not sure yet). In writing these articles, I’ve been becoming increasingly fascinated with geology. It’s really amazing how this Utah landscape was formed! It’s also incredibly beneficial dating an archivist at the state government. Having access to fantastic historic books and records is, not surpisingly, much more than I think I would get at the Kanab library.

Anyway, I was itching to do something different with these photos, so here they are in some kitchy square fashion. Hey, gotta spice things up sometimes…