Canyonlands

We Took a Group Trip to Canyonlands National Park!

This morning we got to sleep in a little bit. We all enjoyed breakfast at the Campground. Our guides had been up early making coffee, pancakes, eggs, and bacon for the crew. Thankfully they brought the appropriate seasonings. I was so full and happy and ready for the day, y'all don't even know how much I love breakfast foods. They also made a lunch spread so we could pack our lunches to go. We had a variety of meats, cheeses, veggies, and spreads for us to make sandwiches. I made a random sandwich filled with hummus, veggies and turkey, I also grabbed hella fruit and snacks for my lunch. My worst fear is running out of food on the trail. Kam just made a fatass PB&J sandwich and called it a day. Of course we argued about it because Imma firm believer in eating and eating GOOD when outside, Kam is the opposite. He likes to eat like a mouse when we are in the wild, I don't get that. He don't be dying so I'd assume he has a stash of food somewhere. But anyways we all helped clean up breakfast and loaded up the van. We legit had nothing to worry about. The guides even filled a giant water container so we could refill our bottles when we ran out of water. Because YOU WILL RUN OUT OF WATER! Don't play about H2O. It was so hot and dry in the desert. I also regretted wearing my "outside" wig, but I'm not gonna bother you with my wig problems today. 

We drove less than an hour to Canyonlands where we hiked the Aztec Butte Trail. HOLY COW nothing could prepare me for the depths of the canyons. It was vertigo inducing. our group-mate Saul was such a daredevil. I was so worried about him, but he was totally fine. It was my agism taking over because he was an older gentleman. Mans was like 83 moving like a 51 year old if that makes any sense. Come to find out he has been all over the world and back, so we had to put some respek on his name! We then hiked the 5 mile Cheesler Park Viewpoint trail, where we stopped to eat lunch at the end of the Needles Overlook. We also stopped at the Canyonlands store to take some pictures like we usually do. Our group goal was to hike like 5-6 miles this day so I was not feeling tired at all. 

On the way back to the Yurts I had a pocket of phone signal and I had like a million missed calls from home. Our guide Victoria pulled over so I can use the signal to get back in touch. I found out my mom (who I have an estranged relationship with) was dying. She ended up passing a month after the trip ended. That made me visibly sad and flustered but the group was really there to support me the entire time. I love how our guide even came to check on me before dinner because she knew something was up. I tried not to drag the group down any more and tried to put the news in the back of my head. Why, because I can't do anything about anything and the universe had already made up its mind. I was only going to be here once so I wanted to soak in all the feels and experiences. 

We headed back to our Yurts at Deadhorse State Park for dinner and conversation with the group. It was our last night together so we really had a blast talking and hanging out, taking pictures and enjoying the sunset. Honestly, the sunsets here were the best I have ever seen. The entire sky turns into these weird hues of orange/ yellow/ red. We all came to an agreement that we would dub this trip as an adult summer camp, because those were the vibes. I hope we can meet up one day in the future.

The next morning we woke up at regular hours, had coffee and breakfast then headed to the Messa Arch Trail for our last hike of the trip. It was so cute and fun to see the sweeping canyons and arches in the background. We then headed into Moab and ordered lunch at a cute coffee shop named Moab Garage Co. 

After that we all drove back to SLC (Salt Lake City). The drive was so scenic, I didn't want it to be over. Our guide Matt dropped us all off at our respective hotels. We were the first to be dropped off at the SpringHill Suites and we were so sad to say goodbye. We made sure to tip our guides and give everyone our well wishes. The next morning we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and flew home. I still hope I see everyone again.

*This trip was gifted with no strings or content attached I like to disclose things/experiences that I did not pay for