8AM Mountain:

Hello all and welcome back, apologies for the sparse content of late, the lack of service has been plaguing this trip from the start. Turns out most camp sites and national parks don’t have wifi, go figure. Today we’re on our way to Grand Staircase, with plans to hike Zebra Slot Canyon, and possibly the flooded Tunnel Slot Canyon. The heat is real once again, set to reach over one hundred by noon. As amazing as it is this desert it truly brutal, we’ve been rigged with water bottles and canteens for days now. That being said, if we weren’t we’d surely be laying in a crusty pile off the side of a trail somewhere. The sky is its usual dusty haze of blue, sliding in over the brilliant red sandstone cliffs to obscure their details from view. The desert foliage covers the tops of the mesas, the red and green becoming indistinguishable in some places, creating something of a confusing tan shade across the horizon. More updates to come.

3PM Mountain:

After a semi-successful hike through the mid section of the Grand Staircase, we’ve turned back towards the main entrance. We made it to the Zebra Slot Canyons about three miles in, however they were flooded and we were forced to turn back. Though we’ve missed a lot of the traditional attractions the monument has to offer, after traveling ten miles on dirt roads you basically have the trail to yourself. The canyons around the Zebra Slots are spectacular, and the rest of the road leading out is equally impressive. It’s like driving through the Grand Canyon, except someone dumped a trillion tons of dirt into it and planted trees everywhere. On another note, there are geckos everywhere. More updates to come.