Blue

...blue skies, that is! The sky was clear (again), colored a deep blue, no cloud decorations. The photos I viewed on my camera showed a blue sky that looks like the color has been boosted or altered. Nope; that's color direct from the sky!

A flight at 5 PM supported a last day of wandering in Red Rock Canyon. I started by a walk along the Calico trail, still fascinated by the colors of the rocks. At the beginning the sandstone wore stripes of white and red, changing to all red as I walked. The ground wore a bit of green, a bit of brown.

I had a conversation with a man and two (little) dogs early on the trail. The dogs were wearing fleece coats when we first met; when I saw them as they were returning from their loop they had shed the fleece, still happily prancing down the trail.

It was a day to try a part of a new-for-me trail. I had parked at the Sandstone Quarry lot, and I noticed a faint trail leading off to the left. I started to follow it, discovering that it was the Grand Circuit trail. It's an 11-mile loop that I'd never considered walking before. Now that I've walked a small piece of it I will definitely consider walking the full trail on another visit. The trail was in the open, winding towards interesting vistas, allowing closer access than I had from the road. It was quiet enough that I could hear the crunch of my footsteps. There were birds flying and singing, and there were small ground squirrels darting around.

It was a good week, over too soon - but somehow my vacations always seem too short. Hmm... maybe I should plan a longer vacation for next year.

I need to remember (before my next trip) to put an order in with the weather wizard for some variations in the sky. I really would have preferred some days with interesting clouds; I really can't believe that every day had clear blue skies. That's a wish more than a complaint though. The nights were chilly but for the most part the days were comfortable with temperatures rising into the low 50s (OK, the low 60s in Death Valley). For December days that's more than acceptable.

posted from Southwest flight 1265, enroute from Las Vegas, NV to Manchester. NH