See Beautiful: View from the Top of the World

Today is See Beautiful Friday, and I'm going to show you some more "beautiful" from our desert trip. Before I visited the desert for the first time, I had no idea what a glorious place it is. I visualized dusty and hot, and I didn't visualize the amazing rock sculptures, the tough little flowers, and the starry skies.

Our last stop on our desert trip was K's Rock. It's such an idyllic campsite - isolated, beautiful, and peaceful. We camp almost in the shadow of the towering reddish rock structure. When we arrived, I could see the half moon rising over the rock.

I love just hanging out at this campsite, watching nature. A pair of bluish birds were building a nest in an alcove on the side of the rock, and we watched them work diligently on it in the cool morning hours. Lizards sunned themselves on the apron of the rock.

I could've just soaked up the ambiance of the campsite all day long but there are also really fun mountain bike rides nearby.

Shyla and I did one together. It's a huge climb up more than 2000' to a lookout that never ceases to astound me. It's a popular route but we managed to get up early and do the whole thing without seeing another person! So, we had the summit, with the views, all to ourselves.

I love seeing the distant snowy mountains behind the intricate red rock desert floor that sat thousands of feet below us.

Looking to the west, you can see the continuation of the cliff we were standing on in the far right of the photo, and you can see the red rock towers down below it.

I shared this ride with K a number of times, and I loved sharing it with Shyla on this trip. In places far from home, I really need Shyla to be reliable off-leash while we mountain bike. I felt that she'd reached the level of training that she needs on this trip. I wasn't stressed out about her behavior because she naturally stayed very close to me, without constant supervision (or she might say "nagging"). I was so happy to be able to trust her without worrying as much as on past trips.

We're in that "sweet spot" in Shyla's life when she has endless energy and also has rock solid training. This is a wonderful part of a dog's life. I know, based on past dogs' lives, that this phase is fleeting. I slowed down and gave thanks for this amazing dog who is bringing me so much happiness.

After our big climb and enjoying the lookout point, we headed back down to camp for an afternoon of lazing around. Everywhere I looked as we rode, I saw amazing sights, like this red rock cliff weathered by eons of wind.

When we arrived back at camp, I noticed that a few small flowers were blooming. One, in particular, caught my eye. I love the purple against the red rock.

No doubt, as my friend Mary said in a comment, I am a "desert rat"! I love the desert, and I always yearn to go back after a trip ends.  I keep visualizing K's Rock in my mind's eye and looking forward to being there again.

I hope it won't be too long until we laze around in that campsite again!