Let a woman have ever so many resources, it is not possible for her to be always shut up at home...

Since moving to Logan I have made every effort to take advantage of Spring Break. Whoever conceived of such a brilliant idea in the first place deserves some serious kudos. Spring Break was not part of my college experience, but has provided opportunity for some great adventures since! My good friend Becka has chronicled some of her Spring Break trips on her blog. I can especially relate to this blog post: My Very First Adventure, now because I had a very similar trip this year! Becka has long inspired me with her independence and vivacity, which have led her on several of her own solo adventures.  I was lucky enough to be part of the 2010 trip she recounted here: Spring Break 2010, which was truly a magical experience. How grateful I am to have friends like Becka and Brent and Emma!

This year Spring Break did not happen as intended. For various reasons the trip I was hoping for fell through and I was left to my own devices to come up with a plan B. Still recovering from a recent head cold and a thoroughly deflating breakup, I decided on a wild whim, to drive to Southern Utah alone! Once the idea occurred to me, there was no turning back. It quickly took hold as a fixed determination. And much to the dismay of my mother, who loves me, I rented a car, and with no real plan, took off on my first solo road trip ever!

Here follows an account of some of the highlights of that trip.

I threw my camping gear, a Nalgene, and a bag of Jalapeno Cheetos (all the essentials) in the car and took off in search of adventure!

I decided to take the advice I'm always giving to other people, to "follow my heart." Turns out that is great advice!! One of the things I love to do when I have time to myself is go to the temple, and one of my favorite temples is the Manti temple. This visit confirmed my theory that Manti temple workers are the nicest people on the planet. They're so kind and friendly that a visit there feels like coming home. And the artwork is marvelous! If you're a visual learner, like me, I highly recommend making the trek down to do a session at Manti.

"our journey to higher ground must include the house of the Lord. As we come unto Christ and journey to higher ground, we will desire to spend more time in His temples, because the temples represent higher ground, sacred ground." --Joseph B. Wirthlin, Oct 2005

Temple work is refreshing, because it's an opportunity to do something selfless. So often I get wrapped up in my own concerns, and become totally engrossed in only myself. Without even realizing it, I drift into a selfish mindset. In the temple I am reminded that I am not the center of the universe. I am part of something much much bigger than myself. And when I do work there for the dead, it forces me to look outside myself, and see life in all its true proportions. My perspective is expanded, and my own problems shrink to a manageable size. President Hinckley once shared this related thought:

Every temple that this Church has built has in effect stood as a monument to our belief in the immortality of the human soul, that this phase of mortal life through which we pass is part of a continuous upward climb, so to speak, and that as certain as there is life here, there will be life there. That is our firm belief. It comes about through the Atonement of the Savior, and the temple becomes, as I have indicated, the bridge from this life to the next. The temple is concerned with things of immortality. We wouldn’t have to build a temple for marriages if we didn’t believe in the eternity of the family. We build it so that family may be eternal. All of the ordinances which take place in the house of the Lord become expressions of our belief in that fundamental and basic doctrine.

--Words of the Living Prophet, May 2001.

Another highlight was that I got to visit the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake! I love museums of all kinds, but generally I feel rushed by companions who get bored long before I do. I like to read every little plaque and sign, because I’m a nerd. Though the aquarium is not large, I managed to spend over three hours there! and had a blast! The exhibits are great. I took pics of some of the creatures I found most fascinating. The penguins and otters were the most active and fun to watch, but it’s impossible to take a good pic when they’re moving so fast, and behind glass. The friendly tour guide said penguins can swim up to 22 miles per hour! (I think Michael Phelps’ at his fastest swims a little under 5 miles per hour!) Being the middle of the day on a weekday, I was mostly surrounded by children. But several of them would ask me questions, or eagerly point something out to me, even being the stranger that I was. Kids are so unhibited! I love this quote that was up on the wall.

How true and tragic it is that we become boring and jaded as we grow up!

If you visit the aquarium you can look forward to watching the penguins. One of the museum guides said they love to perform. When they don't have visitors watching them on the other side of the glass, they lay around like blobs. But when crowds arrive, they jump into action! The best feature of the aquarium  might be the petting pond where you can touch sharks and rays and sea urchins. And I think my personal favorite of the creatures there is sea turtle who survived getting bit by a shark and an encounter with a boat! She now has a weight attached to her shell to counteract the damage.

You're gonna need a bigger boat...

a clear fish

a Chaco-Golden Knee Tarantula

Speaking of nasty spiders, have you seen this?? Raining Spiders in Brazil The stuff nightmares are made of!

sea jellies

I didn't get good pics of the penguins or the otters. But the aquarium has a live cam where you can watch the penguins toodling around if you want...http://www.thelivingplanet.com/index.php/animals-and-activities/videos They're so cute!

taking a light refresher course on knot tying

a handy knot for climbing as well as the nautical realm...

super cool octopus

jelly fish... NEVER bite into one of these, if you find one on the beach (even on a dare)

ARRIVING AT MY DESTONATION:

My heart led me to Zion National Park...
Which was beautiful! To my mind there are few things so refreshing as sunshine, blue sky, and red rock. The weather in Zion was absolutely perfect. It was deliciously warm, but never hot. I hiked several of the shorter hikes...

Zion National Park

Weeping Rock

Emerald Pools

...and Angel’s Landing, of course, which is the park’s most famous feature. The hike wasn’t nearly as long as I remembered it, but of course last time I hiked it I had been climbing for four days and was already pretty trashed! It’s famous because it feels epic, especially when you get to the steeper sections with chains to hang on to so you don’t go tumbling off . And this time of year there was still snow up top, which made the rock pretty slick. The view is spectacular. You can see the Virgin River that carved most of the surrounding landscape move in a giant oxbow all the way around the precipice you’re standing on. And the atmospheric perspective of the hills fading to blue in the distance is really quite nice to look at.  

my little snowman

Walter's Wiggles! The infamous switchbacks, 21 in all, on the Angel's Landing hike

hiking Angel's Landing

I made friends with some great people in Zion. Most of the people I’ve ever met while exploring the great outdoors are pretty genuine and genial people.  I think it’s a natural effect of physical exercise and breathing in so much fresh air. I met one great couple on Angel’s Landing. She was overcoming her fear of heights, determined to “earn that t-shirt!” I felt prodigiously proud of her, and of her husband, for all his patient encouragement as she carefully crept her way along.

enjoying the view

from the top of Angel's Landing

the Virgin River

a natural cairn atop Angel's Landing

Here I’ll pause to put in a plug for our national parks. Though I feel sometimes discouraged at the overcrowded, somewhat cliché and commercialized nature of national parks, I still love to visit them. They provide a safe opportunity, complete with helpful rangers, well maintained trails, signs, maps and visitor centers, to see some of the most spectacular sights in the country. Though crowds are obnoxious I think it’s awesome that national parks are such popular destinations! One day that I spent in Zion, I heard almost no English! I was hiking past people speaking Italian, German, Spanish, something Asian and who-knows-what-else. When I start to despair about this crazy mixed up world we live in, I visit a national park and am encouraged that people from all over the world, from all different backgrounds, travel to national parks just to be in nature. They come from halfway around the world to see canyons and stars and lakes and wildlife, and I love that.

display at the Museum in Zion

One night a crazy windstorm blew through the campsite. It sounded just like the deep rumbling of thunder as it came down the canyon! Then when it hit my tent the whole thing would start whacking flapping around so violently I thought the wind would pick me up, tent and all, and carry my away! Sleep through that kind of commotion is impossible, so at 3 in the morning I finally abandoned the tent for the back seat of my car. There are definite advantages to car camping, respite from wild wind not the least!

I also got certified as a Junior Ranger, a very important part of any visit to a National Park. The Ranger who certified me was dead serious about the whole business. She looked over every single  activity in my book, and made me go back out and do all the optional activities I had neglected. She even made me recite my nature poem aloud in the visitor center! Since I had to do it, I performed it with as much feeling as I could, taking some inspiration from Anne Shirley’s performance at the White Sands Hotel. Unlike Anne, I didn’t receive a standing ovation. But I did succeed in earning my fifth Junior Ranger certification. Ta da!

My Junior Ranger badges from Bryce Canyon, Great Basin, Zion, the Grand Tetons, and Tongass National Forest

And where did my heart lead me next??

To the temple! My next stop was St. George. I've done a session in this temple before, but I didn't know then that my great grandpa Miles Romney was the master architect of the St. George temple! So it was fun to go knowing that little bit of family history.

The lovely St. George Temple

I also got to climb a little bit with my new friends Ali and Dana, and his brother. Ali is a delightful person! One of my favorite moments of my whole trip was belaying Ali as she lead a climb while carrying on a conversation with her family via the phone stuffed down her shirt. Talk about multi-tasking! We ate dinner together and then Ali let me crash at her place. What hospitality! Especially seeings how I was a complete stranger! I was thinking the next day what a great couple these two were, when I got a text announcing they were engaged! Kudos to them. :)

I spent some time in Snow Canyon, which is pretty. But the hiking there is mediocre, especially when compared to Zion! It involves lots of wandering through sage brush. I don't think I'd go back unless it was to climb. Despite that, the sunshine felt luxurious!

hiking in Snow Canyon

sandstone outcroppings in Snow Canyon

black lava rock in Snow Canyon

The hole in the pics below is a volcanic crater that once spewed out the lava for which this hike got its name.

exploring volcanic craters

The one scary moment I had this week was when I stepped on a rock and startled this poor lizard! When he darted out I thought he was a snake! I guess I made him pretty nervous too! His little heart looked like it was going to beat right out of his chest!

Speaking of wildlife, besides seeing lots of lizards on this trip I also saw a family of big horn sheep, two foxes, some jack rabbits and a multiplicity of deer.

One of the best highlights of this trip was that I got to hang out with my good friend Emma! Emma is one of the most genuine, insightful and fun people you'll ever find. (And she's a ridiculously good climber, I might add.) Right now she's kind of glowing, because pretty soon she's getting married! No doubt opportunities to see my good friend are going to come fewer and further in between once she embarks upon her new married life. But it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make seeing her so happy! We climbed in the gym on my way down south, and we climbed outside on my way back. We also hit up the Black Diamond Gear Swap, which was well worth getting up so 'arly in the marnin' for. I had no intention of buying anything, but I got sucked in! Before I knew it I was bargaining for ascenders, rope bags and jackets. I scored some sweet gear at ridiculously low prices. Allyson, Nick and Shelly were great fun to hang out with! Seems like wherever I go I run into great people.

Admittedly I embarked on this trip with some trepidation. My primary concern was that I would get bored, spending an entire week by myself. But the week went by remarkably fast! And it was decidedly liberating. I discovered I'm a pretty easy-going traveling companion. And everywhere I went I found people to talk to! Asking a stranger to take your picture is a perfect icebreaker for making new friends. Though I would gladly surrender my single-status in a heartbeat, in the meantime flying solo is not all bad! There are very few occasions when common decency doesn't require that you make accommodations for someone else. So if you've gotta go alone, embrace it! Like my roommate said, "you won't probably have many more opportunities like this." For me, the chance to get away was totally worth it! Let a woman have ever so many resources, it is not possible for her to be always shut up at home...