We are at camp, west of Springdale on Hwy #9, between marker 24 and 25, by the creek on BLM land. It is called Mosquito landing. Lat 37.10 Long 13.06. No mosquitos yet, too early, but I am sure they will come soon. We are battened down, waiting for a couple days of bad weather, this morning looked menacing and now the sun again is out, a nice cool breeze… this is perfect!

Will be here for a couple weeks, that is what I think anyhow, for those who want to come and visit… I can offer coffee, food and a strong Pit that will want to knock you over!

 We like this campsite, not too many campers, they are scattered. As evening comes some rock climbers will drop by just to spend the night and leave early to get back to the Park. I just talked to a couple climbers this morning who where climbing for a couple days… they spend the night suspended on a cliff… you know those platforms just hanging! But we are strapped they said… I would have loved having a picture of them… maybe they will send me one! Even Spirit is joyful here, or should I say he is expressing his content by being frisky… We might be becoming one, or have we already?… as we are each feeling the same way toward where we camp, or is it that my own joy rubs off on him and of course he can sense daily my feelings.

 Great ride and hike (or walk maybe…) through Zion Canyon and again taken back by the massive formations surrounding us. Still trying to compare its beauty to the Grand Canyon, someone I talked to summed it up, you see the Grand Canyon from the rim… here, you are at the bottom…

It was early enough for no traffic and get into the gates pretty quickly, just a few minutes of wait to find some Parking, did not take me long to see the sign that dogs are not allowed on most trails. Silly and stupid truly… as I had mentioned when near Sedona, that more and more Parks where allowing them on the trails because they were better off than being locked in a car… not the case here yet.

It was cool, shady where I parked, and I did leave Spirit behind for about 40 minutes, just enough time to walk to the end of the trail to what is called the “Temple of Sinawava”, where the walls of the Canyon close in. As I get to the end I saw a group that had rented waders, shoes and sticks and were getting ready to go further, where it really gets narrow… wadding in water up to my waist in 40 degree temp was not an option for me, specially leaving Spirit behind for even a longer time, which I never do!

Again too many pictures taken, very difficult to choose the ones which I post here. I think once out of this Grand Circle, I will link you to my SmuMug Gallery where they will be categorized under different headings. Would really be a shame not to see them.

Yesterday end up being a hard mental day for me… I was not going to write about it… but it is my Blog… my daily life. Many kids on the trail… all ages… some climbing rocks under the supervision of their parents, some by the creek… I started really paying attention to the “rapport” of the parents and children… some beautiful children and beautiful parents. And from inside I was starting to feel sadness… more and more… At a few points throughout my walk my eyes filled up and I had to hold myself back around the passers by. Those are daily feelings with me, a daily battle of unanswered questions as I miss Lance so much., always feeling that he should have, could have, been on this Journey with me, if not full time, at least part of the time. And I realized that we were the 26^th… and strongly how my mind has been conditioned these past 3 years and more to have more intensified feelings and emotions on that day… We are humans… indeed.

As I turned around at the end of the trail/walkway, and arrived back at the starting point, I saw another GS parked… and Adventure GS. The rider was sitting on the stone rail and of course we started talking. End up being another member of Adventure Riders, as the Forum is huge now, we had never met on it. Ratman xxx, I am missing the numbers! Lives a few miles north of Snow Canyon, which is also north of St George, and he turned me on to many roads to ride… It is so great to come across local riders, always an incredible source of places not to miss… the ones that are on the maps but not in the books or Internet. Even told me about a great place to camp on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon… I told him… that will be for next year!

Ah! This picture is for my friend Ralph in Kentucky, his nickname is obviously Oscar… I got some great news from him today… he has had eye problems, could not ride for a while… it is now water under the bridge and took his first bike ride again… I know you all wish him the best as I do.

And this one is for the Dog Lovers!… I have not eaten there, high prices I was told… but great food. Love the sign!!! This is all in Springdale..

I sit by the creek a lot, back at camp, the sounds of the waters flowing were an added attraction that lead me to this campsite. It is peaceful, the nights are quiet, everyone is very scattered. This is not quite in a central location of the Grand Circle, but it is fine… is better than fine. I feel the warmer weathers making their presence, it was actually very hot yesterday afternoon, there will be time to ride to the many other Parks to our East… I have seen pictures of Bryce Canyon… pretty unreal…

We are back in camp, stopped by a small market called “Sole Food”, great varieties of food items and not that pricey considering where we are. I’ll be making dinner with some pasta and… salami later on. Will post it later… I know… sounds horrible?… Not really… once you see it… taste it!

Till then… enjoy the show!!!… in living colors…

Be well…

Ara & Spirit

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 3:07 pm and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.