Utah treasures

When we left Kathy and Dale in Mexican Hat we went first to Gooseneck State Park but it was mid-day and glaring bright with just the wonder of the San Juan River in her fixed meanders below us. We could only imagine how long it would take to paddle them... We then went back up the Moki Dugway and on to Natural Bridges National Memorial (federal stalemate finally broken!) We climbed down to the Sipapu Arch and Michael hiked to the next arch, Kachina (photo below,) as I labored my way back up from the riparian plain at the base of the canyon by Sipapu.

 Next we went on to Hall's Crossing at Lake Powell. The first day we put in with our little 2 HP motor on the Soar inflatable canoe it pooped out when we were a few miles out and we had to paddle back at dusk. The second day we managed to putt our way up the remnant of the Colorado and all the way up Moqui side canyon. The water level is down at least 40 feet but it is unimaginable how much water is in that lake... I could feel the drowned life of the valley floor below us and the spirits of all that life gone... it is just such a remarkable anomaly.. to be out on all that water in the middle of the natural desert. Our journey was long and we returned well after dark... found our Veggie Voyager to be out of propane so had dinner on our Jetboil camp stove.

 Today was a blessing... we visited the Butler Wash ruins of the Ancestral Puebloan people who left their home about 700 years ago AND we were joined by Kathy and Dale for one last visit to catch up on our post San Juan adventures before going our separate ways again... so surprising and fun to return from our hike to be surprised by

these two bird watchers!