Bryce - Under the Rim Trail

The last few days of easy-moderate hikes boosted my confidence in my leg so today I hiked part of the Under-the-Rim (UTR) trail at Bryce Canyon NP. There is a sign near the trailhead to UTR that says - "This is a Strenuous Hike"; I agree with this assessment:) My route took me from Sunset Point to Inspiration Point (truly inspirational!) to along the UTR trail to intersection with the Swamp Canyon Trail where I hiked up to the road and walked back to my truck. Took me 8 hours; based on the time and maps it was probably 14-16 miles. I feel tired now; we'll see aches tomorrow brings:)

I was present for some of the hiking and had a wide range of thoughts along the way.  In all my years of hiking, I've typically been on a schedule (e.g., got to summit before noon; got to get to the campground before dark; got to hike this trail or that; etc.). Starting with yesterday's hike at Calf Creek Falls and continuing with today's hike, I felt more at ease about schedule. I got a late start (for hiking) yesterday (10am) and today (8am) but it didn't matter; I said to myself that I would turn back whenever I felt like it. Yesterday and today, I passed (we were going opposite ways) hikers who reminded me of me (in the past); they appeared on a mission/in a hurry. They didn't want to stop to chat and could hardly be bothered to say hello.

It's been 5 weeks since I sold the house and started traveling/living in the Airstream. I've slowed down and chilled out a bit during this time; much more so than I would have if I had just taken a 5 week vacation from work. There is something about not having a deadline to my journey that is liberating. Even if I could have taken a 5 or 6 week vacation while I was working, I don't think it would have been enough because I would have been focused on the end date. My 3 week vacation in Australia last summer made me realize this to some degree. While I loved my vacation, I realized I couldn't ever totally relax knowing that I had to go back to work.

Yesterday, one of the college kids I met on the Calf Creek Falls trail asked me what I was going to do next. I said I didn't know and it wasn't until this morning that I decided to hike the UTR trail. Not having a fixed itinerary or timeline is truly liberating and is allowing me to reflect like never before.

For example, as I hiked today and noticed the diversity of plant life and habitats, I started thinking about how we as a society use the word "diversity" in a completely different context than I did as a biologist. High species diversity was always a goal when I was an ornithologist. The more different species of birds in an area, the better. On the other hand, when people talk about diversity, they tend to focus on what I would term variation or differences within a species (i.e., humans).  We are all of the same species (Homo sapiens); the fact that humans around the world vary in height, weight, color, language, etc. is really a microscopic view of traits that is (in my opinion) not very interesting.

Musings like today's about diversity are all part of being present and focusing on what is important in life.  I have a long way to go but life is good and getting better:)

While taking a break, I noticed this bat hiding underneath a rock. He hardly moved when I sat next to him.