Day 8 of 16-Kodachrome and the Big Rock Candy Mountains

Did I describe how the Polish twins are blending so nicely on our bus? Despite no English, they have learned all the card games (at least 2 going on simultaneously) and are comfortable with everyone. Yesterday one of them was inspecting all the cabinets and the sleeper berth and in general walking around with charming curiousity and saying, “hello how are you” to everyone. They are often like little birds chirping loudly around their parents when it’s time to swim or go somewhere. But now they are more  with the passengers offering to help or learn more words. The German girls are wonderful with them.

We left the hot springs, picked up some supplies at a local store and headed for Kodachrome State Park. This is our first taste of hiking in red rock formations, with Zion and Bryce national parks and Moab Navajo BLM lands at the Colorado River still ahead.

Not looking forward to exercising in the heat (95+), I tentatively started on a short trek with full intention to take a few pictures and go to the store for air conditioning asap. But I was off exploring and soon met up with an older lady from New York named Jan, who was sitting in the shade near a mesquite tree. Jan had been solo camping and moteling her way through the canyons of the southern US. We had a great time hiking and resting in whatever shade we could find for a water break, without trying to compete for  endurance. Before I knew it, we had finished the first loop and met up with more GT hikers deciding what was next. Nadja (from Moscow) and Min (from China/Boston) joined up with us and the four of us ladies did ALL the loops. My favorite was Indian Cave, which is a narrow gorge and quite cool inside. Going back, thunderstorm clouds (no rain yet) provided much needed respite from the blazing sun, so we opted for the steep climb to Panorama Point which was definitely worth the effort. Talking and making friends made this scenic hike quite effortless, and when I finally made it to the General store at the end, it was only for a brief stop to get a Popsicle. No need for the toilet even though I had drunk at least a gallon of water!

Camping tonight is a bit Spartan…no showers and wide open desert country. But as evening was falling the temperature was tolerable. Tomorrow is the bus “toss” because 9 day passengers were going to switch busses and everything needed to be rearranged. So it was party time and celebrations for the departing people, and dinner was curry with rice. Yum.