It's been a long, long time since I've posted anything here. Part of the reason is that I've been busy (yes, I've had things to do other than work and chores at home and that feels nice) and the rest of it is because I haven't had much to say.
One of the good things that happened recently was a surprise three day trip during the Thanksgiving break. I say surprise not because i was abducted for it at the last minute but more because it was not something I was planning for. A couple of weeks before the break, I was invited to this three day Trip to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and to Death Valley by V and G.
Now, I love travel but am often daunted by the prospect of all the planning and arrangements to be made by and for one person (that person being me definitely doesn't help...;)) !! Anyways, when this opportunity came up, I jumped on the offer even though I had a few reasons to say no. But at the end of it all I am extremely glad I didn't.
It was a busy trip by all standards - to travel across three or four state borders in a span of three days is no mean feat. And it being the thanksgiving weekend didn't help as there were many travelers like us who wanted to visit places during the break. I could only sympathize with the guys behind the wheel for those seemingly endless hours of driving in difficult terrain and with short days and long nights. We spent more time in the car than outside perhaps... ;) It was not the kind of trip I would plan on taking again left to my own will but in hindsight (oh how I love that word) it was fun.
And, now that I think about it, this trip was like a wine sampling tour. I tasted many different wines in small amounts. I could figure out what I liked and what I didn't. I certainly will have to come back for the places i really liked and to know these places like they deserve to be known; But despite everything, it was a wonderful primer to road trips and National Parks in the US and it was with some wonderful people.
Some Highlights to remember :
It was my first road trip in the US.... and to me that's big in itself.
My first experience with Snow (I felt like a child when i first saw the white mounds of snow at Bryce) !! I still haven't seen a snow fall and I know it will be a lovely sight but I also know that I love the cold only from the comforts of a fireplace and a blanket for a few days. The tropical Indian in me can only live for so long without the sun... ;) I still do want to spend a white Christmas making snow men and throwing snow balls just for the fun of it... but now i am happy (really happy) that I didn't go to Boston or Canada. I love San Diego for its warm and boring weather now... ;)
I loved going back to my geography lessons. There is so much that you learn as a child about the various rocks, ores, rock formations, the modes of erosion, the movement of tectonic plates, mining etc etc but all of that information is stowed away as meaningless facts in some remote corner of the brain till you see them in front of your eyes, doing what you were told they do. And in this trip I saw many glimpses of that information and that made me want to go back to my textbooks to read more.
The canyons, hoodoos and natural bridges at Bryce were a sight to see. The fall colours at Zion warmed my heart despite the chill. The desolation and beauty of Death Valley transported me back to a time when men roamed on these barren lands in search of treasure, battling nature with sheer human will. Borax, calcite, chalcocite, cinnabar, galena, pyrolusite, magnetite, gold and silver - ores, I had read about and memorized were in front of me in all their beauty, coloring hills like an artist's brush. It stumped me to imagine that some of the rock sheets in Death Valley were from the beginnings of life itself. They were millions of years old and despite changing with the times, they held the secrets of the past locked in them. It amazed me that geologists could read rocks like books and could tell so much about the past and the future from the dust and rock that we trample underfoot.
This trip, like a few other past trips, evoked a strange mix of emotions : of pride and humility at the same time. When I stood at the precipice of Bryce Canyon watching rocks being carved, shaped, chiseled, chipped, flaked, bruised and broken over millions of years; it made me feel small, almost inconsequential in the grand scheme of things (It is true but scarcely does one realize or acknowledge the fact as we live our lives ticking off our to-do lists and musing about our problems and solutions {imaginary and real}).
During the sunset at Bryce, despite the whole day's fatigue and the stress of the travel, I felt like I could just sit there and stare at the rocks as they changed color with every passing minute as the rays of the sun struck them differently. I stood there in wonder in sub-zero conditions, watching the first rays of the sun nudging the valley up from its slumber. I stood there thinking of what the first men would have thought when they saw something so magnificent and out of this world (I later read that the local tribes considered the hoodoos to be their ancestors who had been transformed into rocks by the local coyotes...). For a "big hole in the ground", as some one called it, the Bryce canyon certainly evoked a mix of sentiments. And this when I went on the trip without minimum background information and saw very little of the whole. And yet, even as I felt awed by the sheer magnificence of nature, I felt proud in a strange way at the achievement of man. To carve tunnels through mountains, to reverse nature's doings, to make our own path where none existed (freeways and highways through the deserts, mountains and plateaus), to understand nature for what it was, to probe the depths of the earth for the secrets it held... mankind has certainly shown a lot of fortitude and aptitude. But even as you marvel at the achievements and potential of humanity, you wonder where that it taking us in the future.
On a more practical note, this was a trip that took us to some of the coldest and hottest places in the vicinity. While Bryce Valley was freezing with temperatures around -5 and -10 C. Death Valley was a furnace by comparison with daytime temperatures close to 35-40C. Some extreme adventure it was for me ! :)
The skies were a highlight through the trip. Never have I seen such open spaces such clear skies. The stars twinkling in the night sky were like sequins suspended in the fabric of time, beautiful and ever so mysterious. To spot the constellations and stars I had read about was totally fun... :)
I have always had a fascination for all that lies above us : the winds, the skies, the clouds and in this trip, I have spent many hours sitting and staring at the skies. It was beautiful to say the least. And that has bumped up the visit to a dark sky conservancy in my "wanderlust list" a little higher than where it was !
So much to see and do and so little time.
With those brief glimpses of my trip, I am going to sign off with some pictures from the trip. I hope I have managed to capture the sense the awe and amazement that i felt through this little exploration...
Finally, I can't thank V and G enough for the organizing and planning of the trip and of course for the invitation to join them... :)
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