Dear Friends and Family,

Canyonlands National Park In Utah was the setting for a really great two night backpacking trip Brian and I took last week. We experienced both the big (the sweeping views of the canyons and rock faces) and the small (the abundant scurrying lizards and the cryptobiotic soils that build the sand into usable soil for plants). We were also very impressed at how smart ravens are. We had left our packs for about 15 minutes to pump water from a small pool and upon our return saw a raven sitting on top of Brian's pack. The pair of ravens had zipped open our top zippers on the packs and pulled out all the contents, checking for food in each plastic bag. All they found was garbage, but they had pecked and scattered the contents of those pouches all around in the short time we were gone. Zippers are no problem for them. The Tlingit first nation people in Alaska revere the raven and name one of their clans after it, and it appears in many legends and on the story and clan totems we saw in Sitka. Now we know why.

The backpacking was glorious, warm sunny days and cool starry nights, with great camping spots nestled amid the canyon walls. We were grateful for the warm weather!

We have enjoyed Utah and have visited several parks here: Arches, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, Capitol Reef and now we are at Zion, the most visited park of all in Utah. This is a popular time of year to be here and we are with the crowds, but the weather, other than a cold snap this weekend, is cooperating. We drove through snow and 40 mph winds to get here, but now we are looking forward to a calm and sunny week. Brian and our friend Steve Benz, who is spending a few days with us, will do a 2 day backpacking trip here while I do some shorter hikes and camp in the park. We continue to be grateful for the R and R this trip is giving us and the chance to see our beautiful country. Thanks for your emails, comments and support! Love, Ruth and Brian