Trip 2017 - Day 4 (plus an addendum to day 3)

Day three's post was delayed on top of being pre-written... such is life, er, tech.Day 3 was going from Utah Lake to Bryce Canyon. That happened, though not entirely uneventfully. When I was going to replace the battery and card for the Sony action cam, I dropped it. In the process I chipped the lens. :-( So, no more thoughts of grandeur in video production... though this is a mixed bag really, since I don't have to worry about post-production of something (or get guilty about not making something).Bryce Canyon is amazing. I got set up with a camp site and scoped out the main viewpoint, Sunset Point. Driving by I was agog... If only I believed in god, this would certainly be proof of his or her existence.I picked up some firewood for later and swing by for another, longer, look at things. I got around 30 seconds of sun before it went to overcast. I took pictures regardless. I decided to go back to the camp. When I was riding along I decided to swing by Inspiration Point as well. Same gloom. As I was hiking back to my bike: snow pellets. Fuck. I already had enough snow this trip. I walked slowly back for some reason. In that time the sun showed a glimmer of home about re-emerging. I waited hoping for sun, or at least the snow to melt.The sun came out, and it was glorious.That night I set up the fire -- and it was a good thing. It was down in the low to mid 30s by sunset. That night I was huddled in my sleeping bag in what I'm guessing to be around 20-degree weather. Oy.That gets us to this morning. I struck camp and headed out to Zion.Likewise, more proof of existence of a supreme being if you believe such stuff. The campsites were all full. "6-months out" the ranger noted.I got an expensive hotel room and took the shuttle to the park. I wound up doing 80% of the Angels Landing before I noped out of the trek, not wanting to die and all.But it does bring back some confidence about the park system. I was always down on them for over coddling people. Everything needs a safety fence. If there was a safety fence, you aught to move it back 10 feet to be sure. (Of course you now don't get the same view) No... Angels Landing doesn't have guard rails. In some places the chain isn't there to hold you back, it's for you to hold onto for dear life.It makes me happy -- even though I didn't do the hardest, most chain-intensive hike because, honestly, there were too many people. I didn't want to get to an awkward position where I had to let someone pass.Glorious.Tomorrow: Grand Canyon!