When I finally hit Moab after about 28 hours of driving over four days, I met up with my cousins Jack, Tim and Sean (as well as a bunch of friends new and old) for the beginning of a week of exploration in celebration of Jack and Katie’s engagement (congrats, guys!). This was my first “real” time out west, and the vastness of it all is humbling beyond explanation. As much as I missed my familiar eastern forests, there’s a strange and timeless magic out there, and I can’t wait to go back. I’m also very proud of my discovery of that tiny little arch. What an adorable testament to the ravages of time and the tenacity of stone.
It was also amazing to see petroglyphs in person for the first time. Staring at the finger paintings of the ancients seems to reconnect some sleeping synapses in the brain—waking some primitive, perceptive senses. Or, you might just see some pretty janky doodles on sandstone. What you see is up to you, I guess.