Day 7 (pm) - Singing Canyon

The afternoon plan was to visit the singing canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante before free camping for the night. We meandered along the Burr Trail and were absolutely in awe of the brilliant red canyon walls towering on either side of the road. We felt like we'd stumbled apon a hidden gem that was arguably as beautiful as the other more popular national parks. It was about 5pm by the time we located the singing canyon and our excitement grew as we heard strains of a tune coming from below. It was everything we'd hoped for and more! The acoustics of the towering red rock walls were some of the best we'd ever heard and apart from one friendly stranger and his dog, we had the canyon to ourselves. We sung everything we could think of from "Lead me Lord" to "I dreamed a dream" and everything in between.

We were soon joined by a sweet couple from Colorado who were thrilled with a free concert and the husband Peter even contributed an Irish song of his own.

A few other locals meandered through while we were there - most notable was Troy, a local hippie (self-proclaimed) who gave us a recommendation for the best free camping site. We also met Loretta who was visiting from Negril, Jamaica and knew Bro Ray Arthurs from the Golden Sunset Hotel close to where Tuck and I had spent the majority of our mission trip in Jamaica (what a small world!)

We reluctantly left the singing canyon (& proceeded to sing all the way to the campsite Troy had recommended). The views continued to impress us, and we found the perfect campsite off the beaten track that had a 365° view of the valley in front of us and the mountains behind. Nomes and Becky did their expert tent-set-up routine, while I goggled at and photographed the sunset. After a quick camping dinner of eggs on toast and salad (for Bek & I) and cereal and salad for Nomes, we all sat in various places watching the stars and the 3/4 moon which was so bright it cast shadows on the ground. The stars came out brightly, despite the shining moon, and I wished I'd brought my tripod for some astrophotography. Thanks to Bek, we found the perfect makeshift tripod - a sawn off tree at the perfect height! I've attached a few phone photos of the night sky, can't wait to get the real ones off my camera to share!
- CillaRead more