Rainbow from page 15
just one of the 'instruments' that were playing. Crickets
were punctuating the sound with their contribution.
The sound of the creek was the percussion section in
the sound of water gently flowing over rocks serving as
background 'beat'. The 'orchestra' was mesmerizing. At
first my fellow campers offered their own track with their
camp stories. I found that by moving around along the
creek, the various 'tracks' of sound changed with the frog
sounds becoming louder, the further away from human
voices I went.
It bad been a long, strenuous day and as I listened to
the frogs, I was grateful
for the opportunity to
have gone on this hike.
Grateful to have seen
such incredible scenery.
Grateful that nothing
bad happened. Grateful
for my new friends.
The camp felt a lot like
a river camp that one
might find along the
Colorado River or any
of the other wet canyons
of the Colorado
Plateau. We hung out
and talked for a while
before fatigue took over
and it was time to fall
asleep, looking at the
star-filled sky.
The last day proved
to be the most windy.
We packed up camp
quickly and finished
breakfast. We all knew
that today would be the
easiest backpacking day and the day we would see Rainbow
Bridge. We only had three miles to cover and several
hours til our rendezvous with another friend with a
boat to take us back to Antelope Point Marina.
We hiked down the canyon. Not too far, one in our
group noticed a small 'tub' of water in the creek. Even
though we hadn't gone long, the idea of getting wet was
enticing. Hesitating for a while, we finally decided to
cool off. Good choice, I thought, as we carefully let ourselves
into the water. The water was perfect. A little
cold, to preclude sudden immersion, and didn't take long
to get used to. Wish we had known about it yesterday!
We continued following the trail and the canyon, stopping
at the site of an old cowboy camp. Above the camp
was a tall and deep alcove. Some in the group scrambled
inside the alcove. Others just relaxed and enjoyed the
scene. Throughout the hike, we saw various man-made
structures. Some appeared to be native sheep camps.
At last, the edge of the stone rainbow came into view.
Just a portion of it but it was unmistakable. Before long,
we crossed the fence with the National Park Service sign
marking the official Monument boundary. It had been
a long time since I had seen Rainbow Bridge and never
got to see it appear from the upstream, sunnier side.
When so near, it doesn't seem like the US Capitol or even
most of the Statue of
Liberty could fit underneath,
but I don't
doubt it. I remember
the day when it wasn't
a long walk from the
boat dock to be able
to get a view of the
bridge. The waters of
Lake Powell used to be
under the bridge. Today,
some thirty years
later, the trail from the
bridge is over a mile
long and it seemed to
be the longest of the
entire trip.
We enjoyed the moment
of being at Rainbow
Bridge. The ravens
were sailing
through the canyon.
The canyon flowed water
and formed a variety
of pools. The
winds had died down. There were very few others. It
was peaceful. As if blessed, we had beauty all around
us for our entire trip. The Bridge still is as impressive as
ever. A near-perfect half circle, connected on one side to
a cliff.
Once on the boat, refreshments in hand, the ride was
a bit bumpy with a lot of white caps on the water. Our
friend's boat cut through the water like a knife. The
wind that woke us up this morning had just increased,
foretelling a storm passing through. Luckily we had
excellent weather for the three days. The next day, it
rained.
22 Gateway to Canyon Country
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