National Parks

I set out on my journey,
All on my own.
I set out for an adventure,
Into the unknown.

I started in the Rockies,
For that first milestone.
The snowcapped mountains..
God,
They felt like home.

That mountain air..
I could’ve flown.
It’s a feeling I can’t clone.

And then it was Canyonlands,
As I made my way west.
She was electric,
Impeccably dressed,
Wrapped up in warm hues,
And a dash of sunset.

I met someone there,
Who took my picture once,
You always meet the kindest people,
When you suspect there are none.

I was in Moab at the time,
Arches was my next stop.
I will try to do it justice,
But I fear that I cannot.

We’ve got an arch back home,
It’s all steel and manmade.
But these arches,
However,
Had something else to say.

They weren’t in shades of gray,
But they did lead me astray.

They say that they are delicate,
But they took my breath away.
They towered above me,
In an immovable kind of grace.

They were colored like dry desserts,
That have never known the rain.
But it felt like that didn’t bother them,
Because they were steadfast all the same.

I told them,
I wish I could have stayed,
But Zion is next,
So I did pick up my pace.

Zion..
I fell in love,
And stayed an extra day.

I applied for a permit,
To summit Angels Landing,
Because..
Well..
That hike’s claimed lives,
So it’s a little scary.

I got it,
Much to my surprise,
Now all I had to do,
Was make it out alive.

So I climbed,
Sidestepped,
And shuffled to the summit.

And,
Fuck,
For that view?
It was so worth it.

I stood between canyons,
With the Virginia River below me.
If I shouted loud enough,
I think that gods could hear me.

And then they’d let me be,
Because they would agree,
There is something sacred,
About this scenery.

I mean,
It’s Angels Landing,
My legs were wobbly,
But still standing.

So I made my way to The Narrows,
When I touched level ground again.
I was among the river that carved,
Those thousand-foot slot canyons.

The river,
Is the hiking path you go through.
I’ve never hiked a river,
But I was sure as shit about to.

I did, too.

In the August sun,
It was a boon.

I saw the canyons,
And hiked the river it bowed to.
And then it was time,
To move on to the next view.

Yosemite was,
Quite the trek to get to.

I woke up at three am,
And hit the trail at five,
And I saw Half Dome,
In the light of the sunrise.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It was draped in gold,
And I was mystified.

The waterfalls were ethereal,
I saw prisms in their mists.
I couldn’t help but stop,
And go a little off script.

I took a dip.

Shit was bliss.

The California air was such a gift.

I got so lost in it.

I saw Yosemite Falls,
With the 2,500 foot drop.
It was so high up,
That it felt never ending.
It felt nonstop.

Then I went to dance with giants,
Among the legendary sequoias,
To really do them justice,
I think I’ll need some extra stanzas.

General Sherman,
The tallest tree in the world,
Was right before me,
And thousands of years old.

If there is a god,
Then he would surely know,
But then again,
Maybe he is one,
I’d like to think so.

Sequoia pine cones,
Are as large as a forearm.
I felt so small among them,
Like a lonely little proton.

They were giants,
And I was just among them.
A lonely little astronaut,
Orbiting suns,
Several of them.

Anyways,
For this trip,
It was the conclusion.

In total,
I hiked 34 miles,
And 7,540 feet in elevation.

All by myself,
And all by my own volition.

I had a dream,
And it was fueled by my passion.
The goal was ambitious,
But it was,
I must say,
A successful mission.

I love our wild,
Beautiful protected lands.
And I think that they,
Perhaps,
Could love me,
Right back.

I sure hope so.
It certainly felt like that.