WONDERING WHY ONE WITHERS?!

I had no reason to fear bats, and as
I grew and discovered how many people
are deathly afraid of them, it made me
wonder about fear. Whether it all starts
with the people who raise us.
from: Missing May
by:Cynthia Rylant

I often come home after a hike-(with LOTS of coral dust between my toes) and feel grateful that I am not strapped by horrible, debilitating fears and phobias.

Over the years I have met quite a few ‘hikers’ that have a great fear of snakes. I suppose this is quite common and possibly justified. I dont understand it, but it doesnt mean that I dont try and be compassionate about it.

A big ol  rattler sharing the path with you is not an experience one goes looking for!!! But I have been hiking for years now, and I have only come across 5-6 snakes in that time. But, whats really disturbing to me is to see these fears completely curtail, or paralyze some hikers to ever venturing out of doors!! (First off, didnt they KNOW they were coming to a desert environment BEFORE they signed on??!!) Their experience in our beautiful desert is tainted by their fear.

We had a hiker not too long ago that was petrified of lizards. Not just in the chance of seeing them, but just knowing they shared the sand with us was more than she could handle. After the first morning, as she cried and gasped for breath and begged us to take her back home;  we never saw her again…outside the enclosed facility. Poor,poor, crazy girl. YES indeed- I am passing judgment.  COME ON… A little blue tailed lizard will do nobody any harm, unless your a bug!!
It is indeed hard for me to remain compassionate to those fears that make no sense.

Guess what porphyrophobia is the fear of!!?? You’ll NEVER guess…not in a million years (Unless of course you have this mental disorder)… its the fear of the color purple!! Come on now…whats that really about?
Some other fears:

There is the fear of books, and color and ferns and even knees!!
I am so grateful that I am not incapacitated by any such seemingly irrational fear.
I found a list of phobias the other day, HERE.
It has made me all the more grateful for my good mental health, but it made me also question the workings of our brains. Could it really be possible to be crippled by the fear of the figure 8!!!????
Snap Out of It, for pete sakes!!!!!!!!!

My Feet Hurt!!

And when my feet ache, I feel tired!!!
Its truly amazing how fast I can wear out a pair of hiking shoes when I hike in them almost every day.
Lets see….
I hike between 4-6 miles every weekday…
The average being 5 miles times 5 days…
25 miles a week, give a take a few….
Yep…my feet are amazing!!
Plus….
Many of our hikes are up and over and through some pretty wicked lava flows. Basalt rock is murder on the soles of shoes!!
So I’m very excited to report that my brand new, spiffy KEENS are on the way to my waiting feet!! (thanks Joe my love!) I love having Christmas in Sept.!!
I wore my last KEENS for over 3 years!!
I have no way of computing how many miles I put on them. I wore them even when I wasnt hiking. My favorite place to wear them was trekking down to Havasupi each summer. Many, many, many miles were tread by them (and me!).
I even took them a few times to the shoemaker for a little touch-up work, to keep them going for as long as possible.
I LOVE, love, LoVe the KEEN hiking sandal!!

They are cute, cute, cute and practical too!!
Perfection!!

Subway Hike in Zion National Park

To enter wilderness is to court risk, and
risk favors the senses, enabling one to live
well. The landscapes we know and return to
become places of solace. We are drawn to
them because of the stories they tell,
because of the memories they hold, or simply
because of the sheer beauty that calls us
back again and again.
from: Refuge
by: Terry Tempst Williams

The Subway hike’s scenery combines the mountains of
California’s Yosemite National Park with the series of smooth mini
waterfalls seen in Guatemala’s Semuc Champey and adds the Utah
twist of slot canyons, wavy layered sandstone landscape, and the sandy
desert environment. It requires a permit, basic repelling equipment,
and wetsuits are recommended. It can be accomplished by mildly
experienced climbers or even beginners with experienced climbers. It is
an all day hike requiring about seven hours. Just remember, you and
everything you take will get soaked!
The hike begins with a gradual descent through scenery of
large grey cliffs and sandstone hills. Although this is a less popular
portion of the hike, the views of these diverse mountains create
amazing contrasts that are certainly picture worthy. As the hike
progresses, you suddenly find yourself in a slowly narrowing slot
canyon. There is no wonder where the name “The Subway” comes
from; throughout the canyon, the cliffs on the canyon’s sides drop
vertically until rounding outward giving the feeling of hiking through an underground cave or a natural
subway track. The cool water that flows down the center constitutes the train and you as the passenger
walking/swimming down. No words can
describe how astonishing these rock
formations really are. The water is slow and
safe, but cold enough to make you shiver if
you stay in too long. All the while, one can
look up to see green trees and mountains
towering above. At times, ropes are required
and harnesses are strongly recommended to
work down some of the steeper areas which
include small cliffs
and even waterfalls. A famous obstacle is “The Bowling Ball” which is a
spherical rock stuck between the narrowing of two slot cliffs which forces
hikers to either hold their breath and swim under it, or use their strength to
climb over it. Either way, given the environment and circumstances, it feels
like living an Indiana Jones movie (only the large round rock doesn’t chase
you down the canyon).
Just when you think this hike can’t get more diverse and interesting,
it does! Now comes the Semuc Champey‐like portion of the trail. It is
composed of a series of small waterfalls, streams, and pools that trickle into
eachother. And it doesn’t stop there; you can find mossy patches on
the waterfalls and slide down them! Don’t be a wuss, you gotta do it!
It’ll be the slimiest, slickest natural
waterslide you ever ride.

At this point, the slot canyon
begins to widen and you find
yourself following a river between
two very large cliffs. For the next couple hours, trails lead through
boulders, trees, and bushes alongside the river. This may get a little
repetitive but fear not, for yet another unique feature is thrown in just
before the end of the hike: dinosaur tracks. Yep, that’s right. A couple
very large rock slabs completely
covered in dinosaur tracks that are
just as well preserved as ones you pay to see in St. George. They are on
the right side of the river and can easily be missed without marking
them on a GPS system. To end the hike, several rock pile markers
indicate where to follow a trail up
and out of the canyon. This is
probably the most difficult part of the hike, but just remember that
you’re done once you reach the top.
This is a beautiful hike that will require some planning and
experience to accomplish, but it is well worth all the time and
effort. People do large hikes just to observe one of the many
features this hike has to offer. Enjoy!
Creighton Petty

Dinosaur Shrimp In the Desert

And at some immeasurably remote time beyond
human caring the whole uneasy region might
sink again beneath the sea and begin the cycle all
over again by the slow deposition of new marls,
shales, limestones, sandstones, deltaic conglomerates,
perhaps with a fossil poet pressed and silicified between
the leaves of rocks.
from: Heart of the Desert Wild
quote by: Wallace Stegner

I talk all the time about the pre-historic nature of our desert region when I hike with friends. I talk in numbers that can hardly be fathomed; like 350 million years ago our beautiful red rock was formed by oceanic pressure. I talk of volcanic action that took place 10 thousand years ago!! We have the most amazing dinosaur tracts that grace the ground, practically in my own back yard!! Zion Canyon was carved by water thousands and thousands of years ago…
And then….

Every once in a while we stumble across these bizarre creatures swimming in a stagnant pool of water that was captured in the rock from a recent rain storm. These creatures look like a Hollywood special effects job!!! Steven Spielberg would be proud!!!

These little guys are called Tadpole shrimps, or can also be known as Triops, dinosaur shrimps or shield shrimps. They’re not really dinosaurs, but they have been on earth for about 300 million years.Wrap your brain around this if you can: When these crustaceans first appeared on earth, there were no birds, no dinosaurs, and definitely no humans or other mammals. They are the oldest surviving group of animals.

I know I feel lucky when I spot one of these critters swimming in a shaded pool of rain water…and a little creeped out as well!!!