On our way to Moab, we made a little detour to Blanding, UT to check out Natural Bridges National Monument. Natural Bridges is a small park (nine mile loop) with three natural bridges as its main attraction: Sipapu (2nd largest natural bridge in the world), Kachina and Owachomo. The highlight of this park, aside from the bridges, was that we had the place to ourselves.

We spent the following week in Moab dividing our time between Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. We immediately realized that one week would not be enough, but it was a start. The forces of nature have created these geological wonders that span millions of years of formation and continue to evolve today. Canyonlands consists of a seemingly endless collection of canyons, mesas and gorges formed over millions of years with the help of the Colorado River and its tributaries forging its way through the sedimenatary sandstone. Arches National Park has over 2000 natural sandstone arches with some on the brink of collapsing and others just beginning to form. The enormous rock formations appear to defy gravity the way they balance on top of much smaller rocks.

We had the amazing experience of hiking through North and South Window Arches when a thunder and lightning storm blew through. We took shelter under the nearest arch with hopes of waiting it out. As quickly as the storm came in, it dissipated off in the distance. As the rain transformed into a mist, we watched as several rainbows appeared over the arches with no one else in sight (they obviously know more about electricity than us). It was well worth the price of admission (and we avoided getting struck by lightning).

We arrived in Salt Lake City and were immediately overwhelmed by the thousands of men and women dressed in their Sunday best, despite the fact that it was Saturday. We were profoundly underdressed and underperfumed to say the least. We soon learned that two weekends out of the year the Mormons host an international conference at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. We happened to arrive on one of those weekends. After taking the tour of the temple grounds, we walked past the entrance and were struck by the contrast of the angry religious protestors and the members of the Mormon Church who sang in response to drown out the protestors. It was one of the most peaceful responses to angry protests that we could have imagined.

We splurged on a campground that not only had hot water, but it actually had a pool and a hot tub (which we were wading in within two minutes of parking the car).

We toured the Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine; the world's first open-pit copper mine. What was once a mountain is now an enormous pit over 1/2 of a mile deep and 2 1/2 miles wide, which provides evidence of the over six billion tons of material that have been removed since they began mining.

After having our fill of copper knowledge, we made our way to the largest island in the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island. Despite its name, we did not see any antelope but the bison were abundant. The Great Salt Lake (remnant of the prehistoric, 20,000 square mile Lake Bonneville) is 1,700 square miles with four inlets and no outlets. Water leaves only through evaporation which results in a salinity level that can be seven times that of the ocean. With our mouths parched and no buffalo burgers in sight, we made our way back to the hot tub.

Prior to leaving Salt Lake City, we visited with a few of Matt's friends from grad school, Rob and Tara Marshal. After catching up a bit and testing our youth on the trampoline, we made our way south towards Bryce Canyon National Park.

We looked forward to heading south to warmer temperatures, unfortunately, these are hard to find at 8,000 feet. In fact, we woke up to snow our first morning there. They had also begun performing a series of prescribed burns which would follow us for the remainder of the national parks. Good for the parks, not so great for the tourists. Even the thick blankets of smoke could not hide this marvel of nature.

Bryce is a series of horseshoe shaped amphitheaters whose limestone has been shaped by the forces of erosion, primarily, frost wedging and dissolving, rain, wind and time. Over the course of the millennia, incredible slot canyons were formed with windows, fins and spires referred to as "hoodoos" (a legend of the Paiute Indians who inhabited the area for hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans Americans, claims the colorful hoodoos are ancient "legend people" who where turned to stone as punishment for bad deeds).

Zion was our refuge for four days as we camped along the river bank surrounded by the Koblob Canyon with its multi-colored gorges.

Hiking up the 6,000 foot peak of Angels Landing was another, not so gentle, reminder of our pitiful athletic prowess. We focused on putting one foot in front of the other while simultaneously trying to ignore the pounding in our chests, ears and eye sockets that was coming from our hearts failing attempt to provide our bodies with enough oxygen to keep moving forward. In the midst of our breathless concentration, a gazelle in the shape and form of a man in his early fifties RAN past us up the mountain, leaving us in the wake of his dust and his patronizing greeting, "How are you guys doing? Beautiful day, isn't it?" We would have answered, except our chest pain had become so severe we were convinced we were in the midst of the acute stages of simultaneous myocardial infarctions.

After surviving Angels Landing and enjoying the stunning views, we decided to challenge our bodies once again by hiking up the Narrows; the sixteen mile water filled twisting and ever narrowing canyon, with its 2,000 foot sheer walls. The 52 degree (fahrenheit) water temperature of the Virgin River was tolerable on the toes but painfully uncomfortable when it reached waist level. Once the pain dissipated, or we simply lost all feeling in certain body parts and appendages, we were able to enjoy the geologic beauty of the canyon and worship the occasional beam of sunlight that would find its way to the bottom and our bottoms.

She Said:

Zion is one of my favorite parks for a variety of reasons. One is that I had the luxury of having my hair tenderly washed by Matt with water warmed by the sun. I lay on the picnic bench and watched the sunset over the mountains as Matt washed and conditioned my hair. I smiled as the numerous female campers walked by with an envious look in their eyes. It was nothing short of an Herbal Essence Shampoo commercial.

He Said:

Jen's hair was looking like she was growing dred locks and it was beginning to smell a bit foul. If she wasn't going to take some initiative and wash that wretched mane, I guess I was going to have to?