Hi from the Desert.
This blog update is not a place-centric post. All the time we spend observing the landscape and the beauty around us, it is easy to write off all the Human Nature we encounter in our travels. Obviously we are not the only denizens of the National Parks. The parks have experienced a resurgence of popularity and as a result a more diverse visiting demographic. Below I would like to share some of the amusing observations Cate and I have made during our journey. This is by no means a complete collection, just a recollection. Not all the pictures are ours, but many are.
The first thing we noticed were the women that dressed to the nines… And I mean nice pearl necklaces, sunday best clothes, perfect hair and positioned perfectly for the sunrise over the mountain, or reclining very seductively on the Park entrance sign. Their boyfriends or husbands laser focused on the angle and lighting….getting that perfect vacation picture!
We also have been encountering what we have lovingly termed “Hiker Bro’s”. Our guess is that they are taking the great american road trip and are repping for their homeys back home. Hiker Bros are usually early college aged kids with flat caps and loud music in the parking lot. They seem to love to show off their giant pectoral muscles while hiking the trail. They need no water bottle, they speak at top volume, and thankfully you never see them farther than 1/2 mile from the trailhead.
Something that interests me also. Hiking poles. They have their place. We do seem to see a lot of folks using them on quarter mile paved trails along with FULL backpacks. It is like a uniform for being in a park… Far be it for me to judge, I just don’t get it.
Speaking of uniforms… We just saw a guy yesterday with the full-on Lawrence of Arabia Outfit! The hat with the neck flaps, matching safari shirt, Bear Grylls pants, socks over pant cuffs, and the uber-boots! IT WAS AWESOME! It was a cool day in November… But whatever.
The Visitor Center Tailgate Breakfast… Or as I call it the VEeCeeTeeBee This one I am gonna call out as hipster. We have seen this ALL over the west. It is 9AM and we are rolling into a National Park to beat the crowds and see the sights… There is inevitably a couple making breakfast on the tailgate of their Van/camper/truck. Their camp stove is raging, something is cooking, but it aint breakfast. That’s because the manbunned hipster is walking around the parking lot with a cereal bowl perched on his fingertips for all to see. All the gear is puked out the back of the car/van/truck. My question is this. They obviously camped *somewhere*…. Why did they not have breakfast there? But…each to their own. I like to eat my cereal out of the view of prying eyes.
Random musicians! this is awesome.
While in Yosemite, a nouveau-hippy played a pan flute next to the river. At Death Valley we were up on Zabrinskie Point and the strains of Happy Birthday and a Mariachi styled tune floated across the landscape…. By a freakin’ TRUMPET! A few weeks later, while up in Canyonlands, a Cantonese tourist played a wonderful tune while overlooking a beautiful vista!
Lastly…bandanas. They are back. Do-rags, cowboy-style, karate kid style….bandanas are everywhere! To heck with the buff, long live the bandana!
See you soon with the complete Moab update.
A.O.