Return to Utah

My latest travel has taken me to Cincinnati, where I would meet an old friend from high school whom I have not seen since 1989. We had kept in contact over the years. And a few months ago, he invited me to travel with him for a backpacking trip in southern Utah's Dark Canyon Wilderness. The prerequisites for the trip required me being sufficiently fit and having no fear of heights. I was definitely in shape for the trip and I have no fear. Period.

I am lifting comments directly from my daily journal entries into this blog. So, I make no apologies for grammar, and my elocution won't exactly match that of a Boston Brahmin's. I usually wrote at night under a headlamp in the tent, so with pencil in hand my scribbles couldn't be edited.

I'm glad to have made this trip. It was my first backpacking adventure, and it proved to be extremely challenging -- mentally AND physically. I learned a lot from this trip and knew my limitations. But I could always push myself further. And I wouldn't hesitate to repeat this particular hike. After all, learning is through experience.