Quest to the Southwest - Chapter Eight - Maps

Martha noticed the road sign two seconds after driving by. She pulled over with a splatter of gravel and looked over her left shoulder, trying to read the sign behind her, posted for cars going the other direction. There was a tiny sign, and squinting, she thought it was the name of the turn off. Since she didn't have a map with her she wasn't sure, but the name seemed right so she turned the car around and turned up the narrow road. It was paved, anyway.

Winding up the steep grade Martha had to pull over often to let trucks with trailers pass. This was somewhat puzzling, as she had passed a sign which read "Not recommended for trailers". To see over ten different trucks with empty trailers zipping up the narrow grade at high speed made her wonder what was on up this road.

The terrain was amazing and Martha pulled over often to take pictures. In the back of her mind she knew that these pictures would just be added to the thousands of pictures she had stored on discs and hard drives. What did one actually do with landscape pictures later in life? Back home, before leaving on this adventure, she had been in the process of scanning and storing all the old pictures Glen and she had collected over the years. She skipped the many landscape pictures from vacations. In archiving the photos she was trying to preserve something of her life, something her children might one day be interested in. She thought they would like the silly fish pictures, with Glen and her holding up tiny fish or making funny fish faces, they would surely treasure the wedding photos, her face young and pale, Glen looking nervous as he held her hand. But what generation to come would care about a picture of Yosemite Falls or Half Dome? A river which was beautiful snapped in some unknown location at some unknown time? Still, Martha took the pictures, the red landscape and layered rock was too stunning to pass by. Maybe if she looked upon the act of taking the photo as the benefit of the exercise, not the the actual having of the photo.

Martha recalled a quote she had heard somewhere. "I was just standing back and observing my life, I wasn't living my life." Perhaps this is what the woman meant. This over thinking, judgment mode that Martha was always boiling in. To have all this concern about taking the pictures, instead of just not taking the pictures or taking the pictures, which ever she felt like at the moment.

Wildcat Canyon. Martha seemed to remember the woman in the campground mentioning that this might be a nice flat hike. It had sounded a little bit long for what Martha liked to hike, four miles round trip, but she could just walk as far as she wanted and turn around. Martha parked the car, opening the doors and fussing around gathering hat, snack, water. She sat in the open driver's door to change her shoes.

A truck pulled into the trailhead. While the parking area was crowded, it wasn't full. The driver hesitated then pulled in close to Martha's little SUV. The woman in the passenger seat, glared out at Martha, waiting for her to finish changing her shoes and close her door, so that this angry woman could get out of her truck. Martha had the urge to dally, after all they had made the decision to park so close. But naturally she rushed instead, tying the knot and jumping out of the way.

Martha studies the map posted on a trail marker at the start of the hike. There were many trails in this area, it might have been a good idea to have a map to carry with her. Oh well, she didn't really care where she went, just wanted to be outdoors, so she set off on the trail.

Two hours later Martha felt that she had made a wrong turn. She had been hiking through the forest, with no views, no canyons, and no other people. She tried to read the landscape, surely just ahead there would be a view. When the trail twisted and turned up a steep rocky hill Martha knew it was time to turn back. The weather was nice and the trail had not been steep, but there was only so much hike in her. Just as she started back she saw a young man with a backpack coming up the trail.

"Hi! Do you have a map?"

He was well prepared for his trip, the map hanging from his shoulder strap in a slick waterproof cover. "Where were you trying to go?" he asked.

"Just out for the day, looking for a view of the canyon."

It was apparent from studying the map that she had picked the one trail without a view. As she walked the two hours back she bounced back and forth between feeling it was no big deal and cursing her bad luck.

Martha spent the rest of the day exploring the upper levels of Zion. She did find many spectacular views, and parked the car near red cliffs to sit and enjoy the day. On her drive back the trucks who had been her companions on the drive up zipped passed her, trailers now filled with firewood. She remembered something about certain times of year that folks could collect firewood in National Forests, must be this time of year.

Martha pulled back into the campsite on the canyon floor, just moments before her camp neighbors came back.

"Did you like the hike? Weren't the views amazing?" The couple had obviously made it to Wildcat Canyon, taking the right trail.

"Well, I had a nice hike, but without a map I picked the wrong trail."

Once again her actions had reflected her life.