There and Back Again

For those interested in a play-by-play account of the proceedings, check out Mixdorf's Piece of Cheese, which will be recounting the experience, in a serialized format.

As for me, I'll give a few overall ruminations as to my personal experience:

• The remoteness and beauty of Escalante & Glen Canyon's landscape was stunning.
• With cliffs that soared close to if not over a thousand feet at times, the "Gulch" in "Coyote Gulch" has to rank among the greatest understatements in the history of geologic names.
• Escalante backcountry is simply not intended for hiking & camping in July.
• By extension, if our (Mixdorf, Mighty Tom, T-Clog, me) future "expedition" ventures are limited to summers in order to accomodate T-Clog's teaching schedule, (whether by bugs, heat, or severe weather) we are going to severely limit appealing options for getting out in the wilds.
• 28-straight-hour road trips are not as conducing to stimulating, delightful conversation as one might think. Particularly when one is battling open windows, fatigue, and/or a traveling companion whose mood may well be related to the gravitational pull of the moon.
• My days of tent camping may be growing fewer and farther between, even as my interest in spending time in the wild places of the world is as strong as ever. It is mostly a comfort/common sense issue. For me, anyway. We'll see how well I can sell this to Sharon, who I think gets as much enjoyment out of cooking on a camp stove, sleeping in a tent, and all the other little domestic camp tasks as ever.
• I love the mountains.
• I am afraid of heights.
• I love deafening silence that can be found in remoteness.
• The myth behind calorie consumption I have long suspected was laid bare.

and...there were definitely good times, humorous times, amazing times. There were also uncomfortable times, frustrating times, and contention amongst the traveling party. Building up a vision in your head over a period of nearly 15 years is a terrible burden to put on a one-week trip, and it would have been nearly impossible for it to live up to our sweet imagination. In hindsight, I can't help but consider what wise Mixdorf suggested a few days prior to leaving: we could have fun for a week in Evansdale (IA). Meaning, fun and memories usually have a lot more to do with the company you keep than in with the things you do or have. So, the reality of the experience was closer to simply "a week with the guys" than it was "trip of a lifetime;" complete with requisite sporadic episodes of buffoonery, fun & mini-adventures, a new pantheon of humorous references & inside jokes (the week's winner being "Little Lord Fauntelroy:" details to come in Mixdorf's blog, surely), wild mood swings from T-Clog, and pizza.

I was also ruminating that a week in Evansdale might not cost us $400 apiece, but then when I considered the amount of alcohol making our own fun in Evandsdale might require, I realized that it just might.