The Many Faces of the Desert

We spent a lot of time relaxing around our campsites during our trip to Utah, which meant that I played with my camera a lot. It's so nice to move more slowly than usual!

The desert flowers were glorious, thriving under more rainfall than they've had in years. Their colors lit up the desert, along with the red rock and the blue skies.

As I tried to take it easy around camp, the dogs also served as my photo models. R generally doesn't love being a model, except if he sees his sister being photographed. Then, he gets jealous of the attention she's getting, and he becomes an enthusiastic model!

I loved this graceful pose that Shyla did as she looked to the heavens.

One of the health problems I was trying to overcome by taking a break was a horrendous exacerbation of my chronic spine pain. Because I've battled a congenital spine problem since I was a teenager, I know that total rest does not work for my spine. When my spine pain first hit years ago, I was told to "bed rest", which caused my pain to escalate to dizzying heights. I gradually learned that gentle movement, especially easy bike riding, is what helps me most.

So, over our trip, I rode my mountain bike despite the spine pain, usually spinning the pedals easily on relatively smooth surfaces (getting on the bike was the hardest part). However, if you know me, you won't be surprised to hear that I "cheated" on a few days. On one of those days, I rode to a lookout point that I love, a cliff that requires about 2000' of steep and very rocky climbing to get to it. At the top, you can peer over the cliff's edge down several thousand feet into the deep desert. I adore this spot so much that I'll endure serious back spasms to get there.

No one else was nearby so I could soak up the views that included nearby snowy mountains. The juxtaposition of the arid desert and the snowy mountains always boggles my mind.

I love this spot so much that I "cheated" again a few days later, and I rode to it with Shyla. I leashed her well before we got close to the cliff, and we sat and gazed at the amazing world. Actually, I "gazed" and she "sniffed". I had the impression that scents from all over the west were wafting past our spot.

These two tougher rides certainly helped my spirits even if they slowed my back's healing. I'm about 80% back to "normal" now in terms of spine pain, and I'm guessing that I've dodged this crisis. I truly thought that surgery might be needed because I was incapable of standing up straight or walking normally at the start of the crisis a few weeks ago. Now, I feel pretty sure that my body will heal without drastic intervention if I'm patient.

Being out in such a peaceful place with my pack certainly helped!

I adore the west. I'll never leave the wide open spaces out here - I am sure of that.