We awoke with frost on our sleeping bags and frozen shoes. Once again we were slow risers. I thawed my shoes during my morning “walk.” After a hot pint of green tea, we were on our way.
We walked along the Escalante today, barely making it to Moody Creek before it was too dark to walk. My mood during the day seemed to have as many turns as the river. When walking was easy and I could absorb my fabulous surroundings, I was elated—thoroughly happy to be where I was and a smile found itself fixed on my face. During our many small scrambles I was all concentration, zoned out and focused on the task at hand. The frequent bushwhacking, however, was beginning to drive me crazy. The willows were sometimes so thick I could barely see Sharon six feet away from me. To make matters worse, we were walking upstream so all the branches were pointed toward us like an endless field of levied lances. We hadn’t left the devil bushes behind either. At times we waded across fields knee deep with tumbleweeds. Once, a burr stuck behind my knee biting into the soft skin like an insistent weasel every time I took a step.
Still, it was on the whole a good day. Whenever I started to stress, I forced a smile and Sharon and I would shout into the canyon to honor Lindy, “Every day is a good day!” We also took to singing James Brown’s “I feel Good.” It was—need I mention—a vast improvement over Taylor Swift.
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