Magnet #95 - Bryce Canyon National ParkSo today, very early, we were to check out of the Wynn, and continue our Great American Roadtrip through to Bryce Canyon National Park.
This national park is just the most awesome park to ever park - it's like almost 60 square miles of gorgeous canyons and nooks and crannies, and towering formations called hoodoos, that formed horseshoe-like amphitheatres and other natural wonders.
I visited with my sisters a few years ago, and we ended up doing the half-day horseback ride through the canyons. Amazing. Seriously. Also, seriously painful. I had a horse growing up, so of course, I used this to parlay myself into a real horse, while the two younger sisters ended up on donkeys. Not sure it was the best idea I've ever had, but I sure enjoy lording it over the other two.
We were only allowed to have our cameras out at certain points during our trip - but they should have taken away the cameras, like when the Warner Bros tour guides locked our cams in our little golf cart. That probably would have helped - at least my cowpoke, anyway - he was the one who had to go back and retrieve my disposable both times I dropped it.
And, as we wended our way down the canyon, we had to ride single-file on the trail. What they told us, as we were literally hugging the canyon walls, was that they train the animals to walk - on the outside of the trail. Closest to the edge. The edge of a million feet with no safety net or guard rail. So. Freakin'. Scary. I mean, you look over your knees, and you don't see your foot, your stirrup, or the horses' hooves. You see canyon. Far. Far. Below.
So, while you're desperately clutching the horse's girth with both your knees, you're locking them up, and in a constant state of pressure. After a while, that pressure starts to take its toll. You begin to lose feeling below the waist, and then when you have that one bathroom break in the middle, you're limping to the restroom. Assuming you can even get down. I have never - ever - been in that much pain in my entire life. Whoa. And then, when we got back to the corral, middle sis was pretty much the most ashen I've ever seen a Filipino girl look. Heh.
On the other hand - I have to say, that canyon ride was one of the most exhilarating things I've ever done, so it was well worth the pain and the scariness. Surrounded by all the natural beauty - unhindered by concrete and tons of people - Bryce makes you realize that humans really are just a speck on this planet.
GAR Track of the Day: Wild Horses
No comments:
Post a Comment