I spent winter break working on myself. Yes, I was happy with who I was and where I was going, but there's always room for improvement. Change is a good thing.
To start with, I spent ten days in a classroom working on getting my WFR certification, or Wilderness First Responder. A NOLS program, I learned more than how to splint an arm, treat a puncture wound, and administer various medications. I learned the importance of good leadership and the importance of selflessness. The instructors from the course taught me that intellectual humbleness and humility goes a long ways with people. So, my journey of forever-learning began.
To complete my month vacation from school, I headed to the Maze District in Canyonlands with a few friends. The most remote and wild district, the Maze is admired by desert enthusiasts for its loneliness and serenity. I was stoked. My friends at CU that have been to the Maze always seemed to have more desert knowledge than the rest, and more appreciation for the depths of Utah. I couldn't wait to understand their devotion to this district in the national park!
We began our adventure Thursday evening and left Boulder for canyon country. We arrived at the highway turnoff onto the 40-mile dirt road that leads to the Hans Flat Ranger Station (i.e. the only building/somewhat source of civilization in this area) around 12:30am. We camped on the side of the road, BLM land, and woke early the next morning to excessive condensation and early desert light. We drove to the ranger station, chatted with the rangers, distributed our group gear between packs, and headed out for the Maze.
Our first day would be roughly 13 miles, which consisted of a descent through a canyon onto a plateau and an old four-wheeling dirt road which would lead us to the Maze Overlook. I had no idea what to expect once we reached the Overlook. I had heard of the Maze as a complex canyon system, I had googled photos of the area, but the images you find online fail to create a sense of expectation. There's simply not enough photos of the Maze in the immensity of the world-wide web to explain just what the Maze actually is. Not enough cameras get to see it.
But the hike did include the classic National Park "we're-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-how-on-earth-is-anything-cool-here" right up to the last second before we were stunned. The last bit of walking was slightly uphill, with the Overlook on the top of a ridge, so we couldn't see anything until we got there.
And once we did, we couldn't peel our eyes away. Below us, a canyon system more complex than anything you could imagine opened up, revealing the inner workings of water, dust, rock and wind. They twisted, turned, and wound through the basin, with different shades of khaki, orange, and pink. I was speechless. We all walked to the rim of the Overlook, found a spot to ourselves, sat down, and stared off in wonderment.
It's the kind of scene that makes you believe in God.
I'll admit, the Grand Canyon has spoiled me. I've spent time in many awe-inspiring areas in the American Southwest, but none of them had rivaled the greatness of the Grand Canyon—until this moment. The Maze is different. And confusing. My first look at this section of Canyonlands left me with eagerness to learn more, experience more, and be more.