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Making Wishes in Canyonlands
On the three hour drive to Moab, Utah yesterday I spent the time intuitively mapping out our extended journey across North America for likely the next couple of years, finalized the route for the next four months, and allowed myself to explore my heart callings and dreams without boundaries.
Everyday I’m in awe and grateful, but some days just seem to deepen those experiences and within that expansion of heart, I know the presence of limitless potentials.
And so I allowed myself to continue dreaming as big as my heart wanted and with each vision I explored, an intent automatically imbued it like a magickal wish.
What a perfect day for this journeying deeper within and beyond, as our time in Moab for the next almost two weeks will be for exploring both Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.
Canyonlands reflecting the depth and expanse of our inner and outer Cosmos and Arches taking us through portals and creating paths that cycle from intent to manifestation.
Our RV site is also pretty spectacular at Archview where we have this huge expansive view out the front and sides, as we look out at the snow capped La Sal mountain range and Arches, along with other rock vistas all around.
Since we face due East, we get to catch the beautiful sunrises here, which I imagine will be incredibly different each day, including the sunsets behind us.
This morning I watched the sunrise and just before the sun peaked over the horizon, a little rabbit hopped out to say hello.
But yesterday took us to Canyonlands first to set our intents and get our first introduction to this expansive area, much like the Grand Canyon.
We learned that there are three Districts to Canyonlands, but the one we will be focused on for this journey is the “Island in the Sky” District, as it is the closest for us to explore, even though it still is 25+ miles in and then extra miles to get to the trails you are drawn to.
I like the name Island in the Sky, as that feels appropriate to the energies I’m feeling.
So, on our first day we explored the four miles total of Grand View Point, Upheaval Dome, and Whale Rock Trails, which provided us the opportunity to become acquainted with the energy here.
I smiled wide when we came across this one rock formation along the path of the stunning vistas at Grand View Point that both Dave and I immediately said looked like Aladdin’s Lamp. But only from this one angle, as it shifts in form from all other vantage points.
We both felt drawn to go rub it and make a wish….well I may have made a bunch in one!
Afterall, I’d been focused on expansive dreams earlier, so this felt to be opportunity to receive a little help. 😉
I couldn’t resist having Dave capture the moment of wish-making and dream visioning, which is the first photo I shared.
Grand View Point offers panoramic views along the canyon edge, echoing the Grand Canyon, as mentioned, but with its own unique features.
The area you walk out on has vistas on both sides and lovely red blossoms along the way.
Then we were off to Upheaval Dome, which is a shorter steep trail leading to clear views into the Upheaval Dome structure and its unique geologic features that have yet to be confirmed as to how the remnants of this impact crater was created.
The exhibits at the end offer two theories – Meteor impact or that it is a Salt Dome, which occurs when a salt diapir is pushed up by the weight of overlying rocks.
Either way, the colors here were stunning (and don’t really show up in the photos), as the sandy looking piles were a sea green and bluish gray color inside of the crimsons all around.
There are vistas along the entire drive that are spectacular and places you can get out to take it all in.
We finished off with Whale Rock, which is a giant sandstone dome rock that ends with broad views of the Island in the Sky in all directions.
Here we climbed to the very top and sat for a while, taking it all in.
We also laid back on the sandstone and looked at the clouds above us.
It did in fact feel like we were on an Island in the Sky and this whale was our nurturing friend who let us hitch a ride for a while.
I loved the energy here so much and felt a song just had to come through.
And being that no one else was around and I had purposefully let Dave descend so I could be with the energy of the whale on my own, I instantly began to sing what I was feeling as the essence here.
I’ll share the sound channeling video separately.
The song felt like a communing, reverence, and deep healing, as well as a celebration. I was swimming in the cosmic abyss with these ancient giants and sharing their wish along with my own.
I felt complete after that and like there was much support around the wishes and intents created today, which is always the case when I get the urge to do sound work. I just “have” to let it flow through or I won’t feel right and when I do it is like a huge release that centers and clears me.
Can you see and feel the difference between the energies in this photo of me below at our first trail vista on Grand View Point and the one above on Whale Rock?
After our first day of exploring felt complete, we said our goodbyes for now to Canyonlands, as we won’t be back until next weekend, since the drive is too far for us during our half work/play days during the week.
So we’ll be off to Arches exploring until then.
We then drove into Moab to pick up some groceries and found an amazing little treasure of a natural grocery store there – Moonflower Community Cooperative. I loved the name right away and then got so giddy with all the wonderful all organic produce, vegan, raw, etc. goodies in this store. What a treat!
One thing that makes me really happy is good food and lots of fun variety and options.
We stocked up indeed and will return.
Today was a reminder of revisiting our dreams and intents and asking ourselves if they reflect the shifting energies within us and if they are big enough.
Dare yourself to take down the walls around your hopes and intents to allow for greater possibilities.
Allow yourself the vulnerability of exposing your heart’s dreams to All That Is that loves you and won’t judge you for the things you wish.
The expansiveness of Canyonlands and the giant Whale Rock reminded me to go bigger.
And just as time has been needed to erode these lands and formations, so too might it take time for us to manifest, but that isn’t reason to stop dreaming, or to give up, as along the journey many other things will manifest and you and your dreams will take on continuously new forms that will be equally as magnificent every step of the way.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ~Lao Tzu
Dancing on the Edge of Divine Madness
I think that anyone who decides they are going to forge their own way, live in their own reality, channel the energy that moves through them at any given moment, and create the world they choose to experience, dances on the edge of madness.
They walk a fine line between silly chaos and uncanny order where the method of their madness is divinely inspired and in harmony despite how it seems.
I walk the edge of that madness, which does make life quite interesting and along with that comes the willingness to walk into the darker challenges as well as the lighter flows.
While my journey on this adventure we’re taking (or my life in general) may seem easy, the only easy part truly is in knowing this is my nature to follow what is in my heart and soul to do.
We are exploring a lot of beautiful, magickal, and amazing things every day, which is fun and freeing, yes, but there are many energies one must be willing to face and embrace when you are walking the path of deeper embodiment and conscious, ancient explorations of Earth and beyond.
To experience the freedom and empowerment, there are a lot of dark, womb, inner Earth and ancient mysteries within the deep chasms of her body and within your own that you welcome in with this intention, or perhaps run from.
A little of that came through in the sound channeling, Releasing the Crimson Dragon, as you may remember.
Every day is a new experience where I don’t know what will be met next….constant retrievals of my parts and the cycles of collective parts reawakening.
This is where you’ll find me channeling sound or inspirational messages.
Another example was in Channeling the Ancient & Womb Earth Energies.
Needing to move the energy through creatively, or sometimes it’s deep emotions to release, giggles, or profound silence needed to be with it all and remove myself from thinking about it in any way except to allow it space to move through.
So while I am having the time of my life, which comes with all both sides of the coin and beyond, and you see me playing in my videos and photos, I do want to make mention that there is a lot one decides to embrace when they wander into the beyond intentfully.
Our Earth Mother holds the mysteries we search for within ourselves. And through the journey of getting to know her more intimately, you will undoubtedly come to know yourself in an incredibly intimate way.
The photos in this post are from yesterday’s adventure on the three and a half mile Chimney Rock Loop we hiked.
A hail cloud was looming just as we began the journey and just as we ascended, it was upon us, later turning to snow flurries, back to hail, snow, brief rain, and snow again.
Everything changes at the drop of a dime and one must be prepared to embrace that flow of energy whenever it shows up, just as we have energies, emotions, and experiences as a reflection of them that continuously move through us to embrace, deny, repress, or run away from.
We embraced the experience and it was such a magickal one because of this.
No one around.
Just us and the land and fresh crystallizations of the elements around us sharing their own feelings, cycles, and creative expressions.
We were bundled up and just trekked along, immersing in the winds, flurries, and mystic clouds that engulfed us in a void of beingness…lifting us off into another dimension and reality.
And along the way we came upon a surprising gift we had no idea would be there….a small sacred area of rainbow petrified wood!
So incredible to discover them, again with the wetness the colors stood out, but being that this isn’t a petrified forest area, it was quite a treasure to find in the middle of nowhere where no other pieces are.
A gift from our embrace of the journey?
Or simply our presence that made all things clear and revealed with awareness, whereas would otherwise have been overlooked?
I took a couple of short, fun videos as we reached near the top and the summit of our hike to let you experience a piece of the fun we had in this sudden change of weather yesterday…an otherwise perhaps disappointing experience for others, we were grateful and kept trekking on with embrace.
And of course we ended the day picking up two more fresh peach and cherry pies, because we can. 🙂
Playing With the Ancient Energies of Grand Wash
The wind and wash whispered of times long ago.
At times softly.
At times dramatically.
On our hike through the dry, deep streambed of the Grand Wash at the rocky sculpted heart of Capitol Reef yesterday, we were surrounded by ancient spirits and guardians watching us.
The deep canyon and narrows kept close eye as we explored.
Footsteps echoed between sandstone cliffs looming hundreds of feet above.
Blossoms and lizards greeted us along the way.
Naturally sculpted rock gardens invited us onto their sacred grounds.
Creatures etched in the stone walls came alive.
The Fremont River chimed in with the wind’s flow at the end of the wash.
And although we could not see the Bighorn sheep that are said to grace the high sandstone terraces of the canyon, we could sense them near and “seeing” us.
There was an air of majesty and mystical eeriness, especially when the wind suddenly spoke with a wild howl and burst through the canyon upon us with great force, only to disappear again from the nothingness it came from.
The flow shifted back and forth from tailwind to headwind constantly, as if the wind was playing with us, blowing my hair wildly around me and knocking off Dave’s hat.
It seemed excited for us to be there and tickled our souls with its ancient voice.
Once again we were taken to times long forgotten, but now once again remembered.
Soul Nourishment On My Own Strange & Wonderful Path
Everyday of our new life’s journey brings so many experiences, encounters, and gifts of Nature we would never otherwise have shared.
Part of the reason I wanted this way of life at this time was to have the opportunity to explore and experience the vast beauty and variety of what our Earth Mother has to offer because as a pilgrim of the Cosmos, I am constantly stimulated and inspired by creative energy, which fortifies the more I feed it the soul nourishment it needs.
Life had become complacent and much had concluded, so a big, literal movement of energy and deep enrichment was needed to renew and recharge. Not to mention, it was time to move on in a bigger way.
There was a lot of soul retrieval to be done and a lot of Earth collective healing to support through the personal embodiment that would and will take place through the energy exchanges facilitated.
So, once again I am following my own strange and wonderful path, despite what the rest of the world around me is doing, how it looks to others, and even when nothing makes sense because to my soul it all makes perfect sense – the only thing that matters.
And once again, yesterday brought us more of that soul nourishment and unexpected gifts with a variety of new experiences and encounters along our five mile Rim Overlook hike.
Ancient petroglyphs, wild turkeys, lizards, vibrant desert blossoms, rolling river, 133 foot natural bridge – Hickman Bridge, expansive vistas, and wild winds of change at our rim overlook destination atop the dramatic cliff were some of the beautiful gifts and nourishment of the day’s journey.
Every day is filled with wonder, new discoveries, and inner reflections of these treasures experienced.
I love following our hearts, as they take us into our natural element and closer to ourselves.
Sweet Magick & Majesty ~ Choosing Our Experience of Life
Each day and moment offers us an opportunity to choose how we want to create our experience. We can ask ourselves what energy we are needing more or less of in our lives and we can listen to what calls to us or what is yearning for us to let go of.
Yesterday I was feeling a need to balance some of the more rugged, raw, and deep energies we had been experiencing with sweetness, flow, and grace.
I do this tuning in each time we decide on what we want to explore each day in our new environments, not to mention when I want to find out what is most important for me to invest my energy in throughout my day.
And so I chose our hikes yesterday that reflected this energy desired, after I worked on my inspired painting project I’ve been called to work on recently.
That led us to explore Goosenecks, Sunset Point, and Fremont River. An easy 4 miles of enchantment.
The Goosenecks Overlook is like a mini Grand Canyon with 800 foot high viewpoints above serpentine Sulphur Creek, which continues to shape the dramatic canyon. This canyon has formed tight curves, known as the Goosenecks, over millions of years of downward erosion.
Goosenecks is adjacent to Sunset Point, so you can quickly hop across and take that short mile round trip hike to panoramic views.
We’ve had rain in the distance, which has been creating beautiful skyscapes and lighting that makes these vistas incredibly majestic and mystical.
This trail has a couple of benches at ideal spots to just take it all in, which we did, enjoying our solitude with the grandeur around us and soaking in the sweetness of nature, life, and love.
Most of the time it’s like we’re in our own world and in a space and time that is its own reality we have been invited in on to experience like welcomed guests.
After our time at these grand vista points we went further in to find our next trail along Fremont River.
The river is right by the Gifford House, which we had wanted to stop by anyway, as we’d seen the signs for fresh pies, hoping they were vegan. 😉
So, we stopped in there and explored the small museum and shop and then I asked about the pies. Luckily they had a list of the ingredients and to our delight the pies without crumble tops were in fact vegan so we picked up two – a peach and cherry pie.
These are locally baked pies you can get while in Capitol Reef National Park at the Gifford House, which is surrounded by beautiful orchards.
You get to meander along both the river and the orchards on the trail, which was just lovely and blossoming right now.
The Gifford House used to be the heart of the small Mormon pioneer village of Fruita settled in 1880 and these historic orchards are the largest in the National Park system.
Anyway, it’s a lovely central area and we explored the amazing trees on the beautiful grounds here, saw our Marmot friends again – I believe they are a couple that live here and scout their tunnel entrances – and enjoyed the rolling river that is lined with more lovely trees next to the orchards.
The blossoms were so fragrant and the trees so magickal….I loved this stroll along the river, listening to the water flow, feeling the breeze blow, and discovering little wonders along the way including this little Faery door.
There are two giant Fremont Cottonwood trees called “Silent Sentinels” that are incredibly amazing.
As saplings they witnessed the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the 1880’s. In 1918, the largest tree by the road became known as the “Mail Tree” where mail was transferred from a carrier in Torrey to another carrier downstream. Later mailboxes were attached to the tree to give settlers a convenient location to maintain communication with the outside world.
I love these trees!
Anyway, after our pie collecting, stroll with our tree, animal, and Faery friends, and journey up the river, we then took the more strenuous, short uphill Spur Trail to some more vistas above the river overlooking another canyon to end our day.
There was a huge dark pending rain cloud ahead, which I used Reiki to direct it to go around rather than upon us for this hike, as the steep climb and edges of the cliff would not have been fun with a downpour of rain. Happy to report that worked. 🙂
Our day was just the right blend of energies and experiences we were both needing.
And upon returning home to our beautiful pastures we look out upon from where we can watch the cattle and horses grazing and the horses rolling and laying in the grass, we were reminded of the simple life we’ve chosen where time doesn’t exist except the moments we embrace.
I love the quiet of our lives, the abundance of nature time, and limited connection other than with the natural world, the few exchanges with other nature enthusiasts along the way, and touch-ins with loved ones.
Days like this are the sweet nectar of life that reiterate why we’ve chosen this path at this time to move the energy in our lives and to deepen our connection with what truly matters and is of most value to us.
Our experiences in nature mirror everything we need to know about life and reflect to us the lessons that presence and stillness open us up to.
There are days of both bitter and sweet…but like nature, we can be assured it is all just a natural cycle inviting us to flow in dance with rather than try to own each moment with some sense of needless and wasteful attachment.
Exploring Calf Creek Falls
Yesterday, our last day in Escalante, ended with a beautiful six mile roundtrip hike to Calf Creek Falls – the 126 feet high lower falls.
This is an incredibly beautiful hike that has 14 interpretive stops along the way, leading you to the cool, shady haven of the falls.
It follows Calf Creek the entire way, meanders over cliffs and through canyons, which at this time of the year was full of beautiful purple blossoms and purple cactus that almost looked painted at times with splashes of yellow.
The area is also home to the North American Beaver, so we did see evidence of dams and lodges.
Above the canyon ledges were several granaries built by the ancient Fremont Culture that inhabited Utah from AD 700 to AD 1300.
There were also incredible painted figures at the bottom of one of the smooth cliffs. These are three large figures done in red pigment and have a trapezoidal shape (hard to fully see them in the photo, as it is across the canyon, but which also shares how large they are). The three figures are typical Fremont-style rock art with elaborate head dresses and seem to be holding hands together. Only speculative ideas on their meaning are available – religious ceremonies, deities, lineages, information, maps, or even warnings.
Interestingly we saw our only snake of our trips so far, on this hike.
Not sure of the type, but was not a rattlesnake and likely not poisonous, but it slithered quickly across the our path ahead and into the brush quickly, then made its way out from the brush back toward us and hid under a rock.
It moved quickly and seemed to time its appearance with us in order to see it, but then quickly disappeared back to the shadows.
Snake medicine is powerful and last night I also dreamed of black panther that kept coming at me….so a lot of shamanic and deep shadow, mysticism, and cosmic energies abound. Still making sense of all of the messages.
There was much lush vegetation in this wetlands habitat due to the creek, which makes it an ideal home for many animals, bird varieties, reptiles, fish, and plant life.
It was much colder near the falls that are set back in the shady canyon. Scarlet monkey flower, maiden -hair fern, and Easter flower are said to bloom near the seeps in the cliff walls here at certain times of the year.
We started our day with lunch at Kiva Koffeehouse, which is a unique and secluded spot outside of the main town of Escalante on the way to our hike.
It sits atop a hill with great views all around. And to our delight, which I had called ahead to make sure of, they had a couple of yummy vegan options including a vegan fire roasted corn and potato soup and veggie sandwiches with carrot salad, fruit, home made vegan bread and hummus on the side.
Even their hot drinks like lattes, mochas, and hot chocolates all had vegan options with choice of almond, oat or soy milk… So I enjoyed a chai latte with lunch, warming up from a cold morning that was just finishing off from rain all night and first part of the day.
We have lucked out with everything, including weather, as the rain started the day before, but had only sprinkled during our time at the petrified forest, which made the wood vibrant for us. Then rained hard again after and all night and morning.
But it didn’t rain once while we were on this hike and the sky in fact opened to lovely blue skies.
We talked to others coming back from the falls, as we were heading to them, saying that it actually was freezing and hailing at the falls when they were there right before us.
We didn’t experience any of this, but the sky did darken and gray once again when we finished the hike and made our way home, although did not rain again and today the sun is shining.
I love the image of this portal in the sky and glowing rain off in the distance, as we drove back last evening.
Another door has opened for us from our time spent here in Escalante and all that has been received.
And from the snake and black panther medicine, something big seems to be initiating and needing my embrace in a bigger way again.
I wonder what will be next as we continue our journey with three more Utah National Parks, heading off to Capitol Reef today.
On Safari in Zebra Slot Canyon
Yesterday we set out on the Hole In The Rock bumpy, gravel, dirt, and hole filled road for 8 miles to our next adventurous destination – Zebra Slot.
It is about an hour hike each way to and from the slot canyon…about an extra 20-30 minutes extra, each way, if you decide to venture off to Tunnel Slot also, although Zebra is the most popular due to its unique pink stripe features.
It’s quite a beautiful hike in, journeying the high desert, through canyons and across washes.
Definitely makes you feel like you’re on an expedition, and the way I felt inspired to dress, along with our destination of “Zebra” Slot, made me feel like we were on safari. 😉
(Side note: I’ve found that hiking in dresses is my favorite and freeing thing to do, so I have a couple of favorite ones for the occasion. I also love my hiking sandals, which I try to wear as much as possible unless the weather demands otherwise, as I just can’t stand wearing closed shoes and my sandals not only keep my bare feet touching the dirt, mud, sand, and water, but let my feet breathe and never get blisters. I know I’m quite a spectacle to some hikers we cross along the paths at times, but it doesn’t phase me.)
Although the trails are well marked, when you get to Harris Wash the trails veer off in different directions so it could get a bit confusing. Luckily I had retrieved some descriptions on what to look out for and along with our intuition it all helped veer us direct, although it wasn’t until the crow appeared, cawing and and turning into the direction of the entrance that we knew we must be there.
We also found bones right after the crow led us to the opening that seemed to be creating an arrow pointing into the canyon. Another sign.
And to confirm it all, we then came upon a young guy sitting in the sand with his camera around the bend who said in fact we were pointed the right way.
It was all a bit ominous as we continued finding bones at the entrance of the canyon, the crows kept cawing and we could see and hear them flying above the slot – their wings casting shadows.
They were chattering about something continuously.
We couldn’t make out if perhaps they had a nest up above and there may be babies with them, as I found a pile of twigs that could have been nesting material, inside a corner of the slot.
Or, if they were trying to give us a message.
I then came upon a moth on the rock and right after the moth, a beetle.
A lot of symbolism in this slot and we also found it a bit more challenging than Spooky Slot, although not dark like it. The tight squeezes had drops below them in areas where branches had been laid to help you across.
I had wanted to video our journey in or out of Zebra, but because I needed both hands to assist me through the tight and challenged areas, was unable to.
Luckily, Dave caught some photos of me getting through some parts of the slot, unbeknownst to me, but they give you a little idea  of the maneuvering needed.
There were much harder areas than the ones he captured, but you can see that I hadn’t any hands for holding a camera to video.
At the mouth we came upon two women who said they didn’t go back that far – only until the first branch and turned around.
That’s too bad, we thought, as it wasn’t until after you crossed the branch and ventured into the more challenging and tighter parts that you got to see the real beauty of Zebra and why it got its name…the gorgeous striping begins deeper in and apparently you can go back quite far.
You can see the transition in the photos to where the stripes really start popping in beautiful colors.
We came to the pools of water they mentioned in the guide information I found, which apparently can be ankle to hip deep and you can cross into even more Zebra beauty, but we felt that arriving at the pools was as far as we needed to go, as it just increasingly got much, much harder and we were already incredibly awe struck with how stunning what we had seen was, plus we needed to get back at a certain time for a conference call Dave had scheduled.
After all, our days are balanced with work and play.
At the pools the slots opened to the skies more.
Once again, we had the slot to ourselves, as the women left immediately after we conversed briefly with them, and we got to explore on our own.
It is such a unique and hidden gem out in the middle of nowhere. Much like most things here in Escalante are….it is pure wild territory.
I hope you enjoy the images, as we once again journeyed into the ancient womb energy of Mother Earth.
There is so much unique, raw beauty to discover and we are continually awed at the vast and rich creativity that this planet has birthed from.
Finding Your Way When the Path is Unclear
Yesterday we found ourselves exploring the history of Escalante and the two sites we’d felt drawn to explore ended up giving us a pioneer perspective.
We began by checking out the small museum at the west end of town, which was incredibly interesting.
There we found a replica of one of the small covered wagons the 250 Mormon pioneers used to carry all of their supplies and families on their treacherous six month journey, along with an outdoor walk of replicated images of the journey with information and quotes from the brave souls who forged their own way.
Inside the building the older couple that are caretakers of the museum graciously showed us some of the artifacts found in the area, including a collection of hundreds of different sized and different stone arrowheads that lined the wall like a border and were behind glass cases.
We then watched a short 15 minute film on the journey the pioneers took.
Simply amazing to say the least was the six month San Juan Expedition (which they thought would be six weeks) they embarked on unknowing of the challenges that lied ahead on the 200 miles of some of the most rugged, grueling, and treacherous terrain there is, including a nearly vertical 2000 foot cliff they would descend.
“The rough and broken country is characterized by sheer walled cliffs, mesas, hills, washes, slickrock, cedar forests, and sand.”
Which today still remains greatly untouched except by natural erosion, since the area has been preserved in an effort to keep it in its natural state as much as possible. This makes the land here quite unique in energy, as it is raw wilderness, giving you a feel for how things once were. This is also why they leave trails greatly unmarked, sometimes only with a trailhead and other times, only known by their miles in distance.
But with determination and belief they forged ahead and the men went about for six weeks building a steep, rough 2000 foot/mile long road in the only somewhat passable crevice they found in the canyon wall for the 250 men, women, and children settlers, 83 wagons, and 1000 head of livestock, which became known as “Hole in the Rock”.
Here is a quote from one of the women pioneers on the descent down Hole in the Rock:
Elizabeth Morris Decker, in a letter to her parents, wrote a vivid account of the descent to the river: “If you ever come this way it will scare you to death to look down it. It is about a mile from the top down to the river and it is almost straight down, the cliffs on each side are five hundred ft. high and there is just room enough for a wagon to go down. It nearly scared me to death. The first wagon I saw go down they put the brake on and rough locked the hind wheels and had a big rope fastened to the wagon and about ten men holding back on it and then they went down like they would smash everything. I’ll never forget that day. When we was walking down Willie looked back and cried and asked me how we would get back home.”
The story speaks to that determined pioneer spirit that makes all things possible. Every time they met a challenge, they kept finding a way.
What we found extremely synchronous was that the day we were inspired to connect with the incredulous history was yesterday, April 6th, 2016.
We discovered in the short film that after passing through the Hole In The Rock, the pioneers arrived in San Juan County area and settled in Bluff on April 6th, 1880.
Coincidence of it being the exact same day, 136 years later?
Hmmmm….
We keep finding ourselves connecting deeply with ancient and past ties that integrate everything along our own and the collective journey.
After our journey through the past, we set off for the two areas we were drawn to explore: Covered Wagon Natural Bridge and Cedar Wash Arch.
I thought it quite synchronous again that after learning about and seeing the replica of the wagons they used, here we were heading out to a natural bridge that carries the name “Covered Wagon”. All chosen ahead of our historical exploration.
Both of the sites were on a different road we hadn’t taken yet – Cedar Wash Road, which starts at Center Street that takes you through the farms of the current day inhabitants of this area.
Then you’re in the backcountry on a dirt, rock, bumpy and winding road and the only way to find the trails is to keep track of mileage and pay attention for the things our information from the guide we visited a couple of weeks back had given to us on looking for things like road curves and washes, unmarked pull outs, etc.
Our whole time out here was again on our own, making it feel much more like it once would have been.
First we went to Covered Wagon Natural Bridge, following the wash upstream five minutes or so until you come to the beautiful bridge.
We took turns climbing out on it and journeying under it following the wash to another cool cave-like cut out behind the bridge that created a large half circle carved out by the water.
It was both haunting and nurturing there.
Another Earth womb feeling to experience.
After exploring we headed back on the road another mile or so to find our next discovery.
This one was more challenging in terms of tracking, as there was a quarter of mile to get to the Cedar Wash Arch without anything but directions saying to head southeasterly toward the rim of the canyon, pay attention to landmarks so you can find your way back, follow game or wash trails, and head/look east for the arch in the distance.
Luckily Dave is a good navigator. We like to say we’re a good team because of his skills coupled with me being the treasure finder and energy guide. 😉
This was definitely a hike we had to use all of our skills for, luckily not too long of one. Along the way we kept seeing deep mountain lion tracks and some deer tracks that we followed, as we kept following southeast.
Incredibly we came right out at exactly the point we needed to, which we knew we had because someone had put a small cairn on the gray stone cliff we arrived at, indicating we were on track.
A little ways up from there we found the Cedar Wash Arch in the distance, just as the directions said we would.
Being that there was no trail and we were simply making our way in the wilderness, it connected us to the feeling of pioneers, although this was nothing like the wild journey the original pioneers were on, in some small way we were tapping into our inner determination and guidance too and the directions we had were like receiving back information from the scouts that were sent ahead for the pioneers.
We followed our tracks back and arrived directly to our car, again without any veering off.
And on our way back to town on the winding, rough road Jack Rabbit ran across our path just as I was speaking about Joy and Cosmo to Dave.
We stopped the car to watch him, as he connected for a bit and then ran off out of sight with speed, agility, and a little playful frolic.
Such a wonderful ending to our day.
The whole experience made me reflect on how we all at times will feel the path is unclear and have to forge ahead with only our instincts and will guiding us on.
There is nothing like the determined spirit that doesn’t allow fear to overcome it, but instead turns that fear into a formidable force of courage and strength that turns anything into the “possible”.
You may not know what lies ahead, but there’s an inner drive within you, a yearning, a passion, freedom, excitement, knowing, that encourages and urges you on.
I saw a quote in the museum that said something like “When met with a challenge you don’t find a way out, you find a way.”
I also love this one by Jim Rohn, “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”
Let your pioneering spirit and heart pave the way to your soul’s dreams.
You are incredibly more powerful, able, resourceful, resilient, and creative than you think.
You don’t need to know how.
The road doesn’t need to be clear.
You simply need to allow your heart to fuel your mind with passion that is food to the creative will.
A Walk Along the River
Yesterday we enjoyed a late evening hike, getting out at 5:30 pm to explore the river a bit on a trail to Escalante Natural Bridge. Since it stays light until nearly 8 pm, we have all day to adventure about when feeling called.
Our timing was met by complete solitude on this four mile round trip hike that was simply beautiful and serene, taking us across the river to our destination of the stunning and natural carving of Mother Earth.
On this hike you get to cross Escalante River four times, which made it not only fun, but cleansing and invigorating.
Here’s another fun, short video of the river experience.
The river is home to otters and although we didn’t see any, the running water created a beautiful flow to the energy we experienced here.
The timing of day also created a mystical feel with the sun behind some clouds, peaking through only when we arrived at the bridge in welcome and when we left the bridge in farewell.
A lovely hike worth doing if you’re in the area and quite moderate, only challenged by hiking in deep sand. There are walking sticks left at the banks to help you in crossing too.
We are discovering more and more how remote and more untouched Escalante is, creating a feel of rugged wilderness that is deeply healing.
A Walk In Fairyland
Yesterday was our last full day here in beautiful Bryce Canyon National Park, as we head out to Escalante in a few hours. I had chosen to save one particular hike to celebrate closure to our time in Bryce and it proved to be the perfect send off.
The hike was called the Fairyland Loop, which combines Fairyland Canyon with Tower Bridge and Rim Trails, creating one giant eight mile loop. It was by far our favorite trail in the park here, definitely living up to the phrase “saving the best for last” indeed.
On this hike you can see the Tower Bridge, China Wall, Sinking Ship, and yes, Fairyland!
So many spectacular views, as you hike amidst the hoodoos up close and see incredible vistas from afar as well. 
I love this fun one below…there is a small opening in this large formation to the left center where Dave stuck his head through. And following is a close up of it. See if you can find him.
There were so many amazing formations with faces, creatures, and beings naturally carved, not to mention everything took on a life essence of its own creating forms such as melting candles, torches, castles, cathedrals, altars, portals, bridges, you name it.
It’s truly not a trail to miss, but we were so surprised that literally no one was on the trail except a few people at the beginning and end, which are trails connecting to the loop (so these people only were doing the short ends of the trail (Tower Bridge or Rim Trail), but not venturing into Fairyland where the true magick begins.
Perhaps the length and multiple elevation changes of 1700+ elevation are a put off to most people, or maybe the Faeries keep a discerning watch on who they allow into their realm. 😉
All I can say is if you do explore Bryce Canyon, you would be missing out if you don’t explore the full Fairyland Loop, as Fairyland Canyon is truly stunning – plus think of all the magick! After all, it’s Fairyland!
Our day kicked off with a small group of Mule Deer greeting us before we turned into the road to the trailhead, and on the hike we saw a lot of birds including Hawks, Wood Peckers, Steller’s Jay, and even a Peregrine Falcon!
And when we left the trailhead to drive back home to the RV, two little Prairie Dogs were playing in the field, chirping away as they were foraging for food. So cute!
And although we took the trail very leisurely, having all day to explore, we still completed it in 4 hours and even though they say it is a strenuous hike, we didn’t find it to be so compared to others we have done. It felt to meander along and between the sights and the flow, time moved quickly.
Before the hike I’d been very worried about Joy because I found her in the morning with her blind eye closed and it appeared as if the lens that had detached was moving around. Her eye was red and she wouldn’t open it unless I opened it to check it out.
So this had mom stressed. I put in a call to her eye doctor to leave them a message, that way on Monday I can order more eye drop medication to be sent out to me. And I looked up a vet near where we’ll be in Escalante, just in case.
I gave her lots of Reiki, along with a couple friends who joined, and the whole time I was on the hike I was sending her Reiki, along with Nestor, Cosmo, and Gaia, inviting the Faeries to help too, since I was in Fairyland.
I’m happy to report that when we got home, her eye was open and looked much better and has continued to be open. I am hoping we nipped what ever was happening with all the energy, and that with the meds coming we will avoid any complications, as the doctor has told me that if there is an infection they would have to remove the lens and that’s not a good thing to put a rabbit under for surgery if you can avoid it, which is why he didn’t do it in the first place since her eye was healthy despite being blind, which was due to age.
Anyway, I’m so grateful to everyone and especially the Faeries, as I couldn’t have been in a better place to ask for assistance. I, of course, promised to give them things in return, honoring their help and time.
And they were so generous, gifting me things along the hike.
I found a heart rock, a larger stone that is part of a project, and two smaller rocks encrusted with small chips of crystals layered on one side!
That I even saw them was meant to be, as they were the only ones like it and I just happened to catch their glistening sparkle to the side. Perhaps it was my Faery eyes that were attuned to seeing it, but I feel it was a gift they wanted me to have and when I got home I immediately brought them to Joy.
She was really loving them and licked and nudged them when I placed them by her.
A little Faery magick for my Faery bunny.
We even saw this amazing Faery castle formation surrounded by a citadel of magickal towers that was breathtaking and literally my favorite formation of all.
The day was perfect and although it started off full of stress and worry about my little one, it was being supported and nurtured throughout, so little by little I was feeling rebalanced and grounded back into my flow.
The experience helped in transforming my heart back to peace and recentering me back into embodying harmony.
It all reminded me that no matter what is going on it is best to surrender and remember who we are….this will bring us back to the love and magick that is our nature and then all things are possible from this place of centeredness.
Thank you Faeries!
I hope you enjoy the enchanting photos from our day and that they help transport you into the nature of you and all that is possible when you remember who you are.
