Into the Frying Pan

Determined. Our first full day in the desert found Cat and I up and on the trail to Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, a little later than we had intended, but still fairly early. Before the heat of the day, anyway. The trail to the iconic arch had a fair amount of traffic on it, but our destination lay beyond the first arch. We headed farther, up the trail to Double O Arch and a couple of short side trails to smaller arches embedded in the same fin of rusty sandstone. Devil's Garden is a playground of canyons, arches, fins and monoliths that is accessed by the trail to Landscape Arch, several shorter side trails, and the Primitive Loop, a 7ish mile trail that takes you to all of the major arches while circling the Garden. Can you guess which trail Cat and I were there for? It was our first day in the desert, however, which meant our bodies had to acclimate to the dryer air, greater altitude, and lack of significant shade.

Partition Arch

Starting a hike after dawn wasn't a mistake we made again. The trail was beautiful, of course, as are all trails in the desert. We spent some time at Landscape Arch, then went on to the side trails to Navajo Arch and Partition Arch. Less well-known and a little bit out of the way, these arches are often skipped by hikers on their way to Double-O Arch. We had the trail to ourselves for the most part, and also could get right up into the arches for the obligatory arch portrait.

Cat resting in Partition Arch

We hit Double-O Arch right as it started to get hot, and crowded into the shade of a fin along with all of the other hikers that morning.

Double-O Arch

Soon after, though, we lost the crowds and turned down the less used and aptly named Primitive Loop. Winding around the garden and offering panoramic vistas and cool canyon potholes, the Devil's Garden Primitive Loop is comparable to the better known Fiery Furnace for its abundance of sandstone fins, except it has a marked trail.

And definitely isn't for someone afraid of heights. Cat and I meandered through the Garden, sticking to the shade as much as possible. The last bit of trail was brutal: exposed desert with only the occasional stunted juniper to use as relief from the sun.

Even sucking down water, we were hot and tired and a little dehydrated. The hike was worth it, but next time I'll probably give myself some time in the sun before I try a longer hike, especially now that I'm living near sea level!

What I'm listening to: The Adventure Begins by Howard Shore

Big Changes, New Adventures, Living Life!

Overwhelmed. I feel like my life has changed drastically in the last month, and yet in a lot of ways, things have stayed the same. At the end of February I packed up all of my belongings and my animals, said goodbye to my family, friends, jobs, and hometown, and moved to northeast Texas. It's been a busy, fantastic, sometimes frustrating and overwhelming change, but so far, picking up and moving away from everyone and everything I know has been one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. I now live with Jared and successfully integrated my pets with his, and now we have our own mini zoo of animals. I live in a part of the country that has hills and forests, which is vastly different from the flat farmlands and prairies around my hometown in Nebraska.

On the road to Texas

I already have two jobs down here, one at Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge and one where I help out a private owner with her multitude of exotic pets. I'm still working with animals, which is something that I knew I would always do. Also, everything in Texas is so spread out. I have a half and hour commute to get to Tiger Creek, and I have a nearly fifty minute commute to the exotics place! It's a damn good thing I love driving. But really though, the drive to both jobs is awesome. I love living in a city surrounded by a forest!

Faulkner Park

I continue to travel, with trips planned from now until July (for now) and I've already been out on a trail here at Faulkner Park on the southern end of the city of Tyler. I took Marley and Callie on a soggy Friday morning two weeks after arriving at my new home and headed to the closest place I could find to go hiking. It was just us on the trails, and given that we nearly needed waders to walk on some of the trails, I could see why we were alone. The park is mostly used by the local mountain bike scene, but is also available to people like me who crave a little bit of nature while living in a city. Of course, I crave a lot of nature, but Faulkner Park was a nice teaser. My dogs and I hiked roughly four of the six miles of trails in the park, but Marley absolutely refused to go any farther and I had to drag him to the car to go home. We came home muddy and wet, the dogs were exhausted and I was (and still am) chomping at the bit to get back on a trail.
 

"It's raining. Let's go home."

April will see me heading farther south to visit a friend in San Antonio, May will bring me back home to watch my little brother graduate and to spend some time with my dad in western Nebraska, and for now, I'm keeping the rest of my travels to myself until everything is all set, but it won't be long until I'm headed out on another adventure. I guess that's what happens when you find your passion.

Yeah. I work with otters. They're mischievous little beasts!