Prescott, AZ

Farewell lovely land of the mountains. I hardly spent four weeks with you but already miss your sunsets, downtown, evening breezes, and the comfort of knowing my way around even if I couldn't remember how.

Prescott is one of my favorite places. Not necessary because of the people, but because of so many individuals that make up the blood of the city. It's tried and old blood in general but frightfully alive and pure in a way. It has a less intense sucking sensation compared to California but I feel as if a part of me has been left there, not with the people or with family but with the city: the rooftops, the gazebo next to the courthouse, St. Michaels, Firehouse Square, the tunnels (I missed the art rooms on this recent tour and am sad), the shops, and oh so many places.

Grab some gelato and walk down Whiskey Row. Eat some lunch at St. Michaels. Compare the murals and statues hidden amongst public facilities (the parking garage and library for example). Explore a lake or the dells as the sun sets. Traverse a storm drain to test some true underground art once the lights are low. Make even Aladin jealous as you finish the evening bounding from rooftop to rooftop watching people and the city drift into a stupor. It's majestic.

King's Canyon

This is the return from a wonderful week in King's Canyon, California. A few years ago my dad approached me asking if I wanted to go on an adventure with him. Sounded like a good idea. He told me to pick what I wanted to do. I suggested backpacking through Scotland. He marveled at the idea. Too much time past and suddenly I was on my mission. Then he thought Glacier National Park would be fun because we could hike into Canada if we wanted to. Due to an unusual amount of snow this year the park has only barely started opening so that fell through. So instead I returned to California's beautiful landscape for a week of backpacking.

It was marvelous. Breathtaking at times. King's Canyon is adjacent to Sequoia National Park, so it contains very old and very large trees. We went up the Lewis Creek Trail (apparently an unpopular and thus ill-kept trail. It tended to be overgrown at times and occasionally gave up on switchbacks at the steepest parts). It was Tuesday when we started hiking. We were planning on having at least a little trouble getting the pass we wanted but nope when we got there no one else was in line. But getting up early was a good thing. Dad saw a black bear at the main campsite that morning. I thought he was joking so I stayed in my sleeping bag, sad day. It was the only bear we encountered.

True to form, we got lost a couple times on the way to our main camp. The hike was just gorgeous though. We mostly followed a creek to Frypan Meadow. So we had plenty of water and foliage. Lots of wildflowers. About a mile before camp we could not find the trail at all though. We had come to a small hilltop and a good fifty yards of the trail disappeared into a thicket of these nasty, prickly plants. Eventually, having gotten frustrated being lost, we prayed to know where to go. Once we finished Dad looked up and saw a section of the trail just above us. It was a nice miracle. That night a group of five, three brothers and two of their sons, descended upon our camp. They had been hiking a long loop that went the opposite direction of us. Very nice. The boys were hilarious, telling us stories about all sorts of things they had seen.

The next day we hiked Kennedy's Peak. Well, maybe...it might have only been some other nearby peak, but we did make it to the pass. On the way up we again crossed several streams, one of which had a waterfall. I decided to climb up the waterfall (the side of it really) to see how high it went. It was a small waterfall, not even eight feet high. While climbing though I dislodged a rock which was followed by a small rockslide which crushed the big toe on my left foot. I was kinda stuck where I was though so I kept climbing and afterward found out my toenail was bleeding. After washing it out I realized I was gonna lose the toenail (I'm still waiting for it to fall off though). When we got to the top we were looking down on all the mountains in many miles. It was astounding. The wind was cool and refreshing. On the other side of the pass there was still several inches of snow covering the entire trail for maybe a quarter mile. This would have been no trouble except the slope was probably 45 degrees or so. Slipping meant falling very fast. We made it down with a bit of luck and light feet so we could refill our water bottles and then headed back up so we could get back to camp. The lakes up there were awesome. Huge! And the water tasted so good, even after being filtered.

The next day involved two failed hikes. We started to one destination but found the path nearly impossible to follow. And I had sunburned the tops of my feet the previous day so clambering through all the foliage was painful. So on our way back to camp we tried another site but were too tired to make it up the last hill. Still, it was lovely country. So many lizards. And deer often visited out campsite. After returning to the main camp in Frypan Meadow we played a little frisbee. That night we were visited by Charlie, also from Southern California. He had hiked the loop by himself. A very polite third-grade teacher, he confused his wife was always bothered and very worried about him when he did things like this (hiking by himself) but he just couldn't get away. He told us that the trail we took was the worst trail, in terms of upkeep, he had seen in the park and gave us some suggestions for our next adventure.

The next day we hiked back down off the mountain and drove back to Prescott. Just a lovely trip. There were several times I felt very close to that higher power. The feeling that something so magnificent was created for us to enjoy. It was not corrupted or commercialized. It was serene in those mountains. I got to think a lot. Put things in order and discover what I need. Talking to dad was also very nice, hearing his stories and asking advice. I've learned a lot. Life is good.

And we're off

Just so I feel comfortable starting right into this, I write this. As I am about to start the beginning of several adventures and travels I want to just keep track of where I am and what I'm thinking. The plan is to write something when I get there about my first impressions and one when I leave that place to recollect what I learned. I tell you this to keep myself accountable.

Current goals:
Go to Jerusalem and study Arabic and local histories there.
Backpack through Scotland.
Return to Sacramento and revisit memories.
Find my place in Provo.
Find an adventurer to bring along.