The Whole World Falls Away

I rose early and went to Arches when the park was still smothered in morning fog. The ground was dry, but every twig and stem was slathered in hoarfrost.

As the sun rose, the mist slowly began to clear, revealing a Louvre-worthy gallery of stone windows. Still, for all the awe it inspired, I couldn’t fathom why some folks were drawn to walk under the massive arches. How do you think they got to be that way in the first place?

Unwilling to navigate the ice on the downhill slope of road to the north end of the park, I left and headed for Canyonlands. After a long drive, including the harrowing passage of The Neck (exactly what it sounds like), I arrived at the cliffs from which the whole world falls away.

Over to westward, I could see the white mountains of Colorado, beckoning.