Thither & Yon

Lists of stats are one of my very favorite ways to summarize large undertakings. Please enjoy this wrap-up in numbers, and I’ll be back in a few days with some more thoughtful commentary on the highs and lows of our adventures, tips if you’re planning a similar trip, and what we might do differently if we had to (got to) do it again.

• Days on the road: 28
  
• States properly visited: 3 (Arizona, Utah, Colorado)
  
• Miles driven: 5,072
  
• National Parks visited: 10! (Petrified Forest, Saguaro, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes)
  
• Other National Park sites visited: 12 (Tonto, Wupatki, Sunset Crater, Casa Grande, Tumacacori, Tuzigoot, Montezuma Castle, Walnut Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Vermillion Cliffs, Florissant Fossil Beds)
  
• Miles hiked: 145.51
  
• Peaks summited: 3 (Black Mountain, Angel’s Landing, [a] High Dune)
  
• Canyons bottomed: 2 (Grand, Bryce)
  
• Volcanos summited: None, alas, but we got to look at a whole bunch!
  
• Cumulative feet of elevation gained: 22,203 (that’s like climbing Aconcagua if you started at sea level!! Or put it in perspective against my favorite mountain obsession: the climb from Everest basecamp to the summit is only 13,700 feet. Our air remained a lot more breathable than on either of those mountains, however.)
  
• Blisters suffered: 1
  
• Nights camped: 2 (if we cheat a little with our definition of “camping”)
  
• Meals consumed out of pouches: 5
  
• Scoops of ice cream consumed: 7 (the ice cream game was not strong in these National Parks)
  
• Quarters put into laundry machines: 24
  
• Varieties of cacti counted: I lost track somewhere north of 40
  
• Cats met: 3
  
• Condors spotted: 6?
  
• Rocks collected: 7 (Please note that it is ILLEGAL and VERY BAD FORM to collect rocks on National Park Service properties. DON’T DO IT. My rocks were collected from Forest Service and BLM lands and highway cutbanks.)
  
• Books read: 8+ (full list below)
  
• Postcards mailed: 42
  
• Family members visited: 4
  
• Friends visited: None, alas
  
• Coronaviruses contracted: NONE, haha!

BOOKS READ (audiobooks “read” while we drove between sites – ratings are only Laura’s)

• Shakespeare for Squirrels, by Christopher Moore (5/5 stars – bat-shit weird fun)
• American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (4/5 stars – more impressive than I remember from my first reading)
• Dune Messiah, by Frank Herbert (2/5 stars – well, I didn’t HATE it)
• The Hollow Places, by T. Kingfisher (4/5 stars – spooky fun)
• The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest, by Mark Synott (5/5 stars – EVEREST)
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan (4/5 stars – learn about your food!)
• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake (4/5 stars – fungus is fascinating)
• The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, by Kevin Fedarko (5/5 stars – exciting history)
• (the exciting chapters from) Eiger Dreams, by Jon Krakauer (4/5 stars – canyoneering, Denali, death on K2)

And finally, since I subjected you to an endless series of rock photos throughout this trip, please enjoy this slideshow of desert flowers.