One Earth Walk-project - Blog: Falling Rocks - A walk up Soldier Summit and down Price Canyon

At Spanish Fork, UT, I met and was overtaken by a Route 6 runner (previously mentioned). We had a meal together, along with several of my host-angels and the driver assisting her. She was still wilted from her day's run, but food was her first priority that evening! By now she is miles ahead of me. I wish her the best and hope she will take a rest day now and again!! She said she hasn't done so, amazingly, but then she is a couple of decades younger than this old (flightless) bird... I, in fact, am capitalizing shamelessly on it being my birthday today(!) and taking an extra day here in Price to visit the paleontology museum, look for a few gear items, and eat cake. Am planning to continue early tomorrow AM; it looks as if there are some very hot days in the forecast for this week.

There is only one convenience store between Spanish Fork and Helper, UT (about 60 miles); that store is a welcome sight at the top of Soldier Summit. The way up felt like the 'endless climb' to me, but I hadn't yet experienced Price Canyon. That was the theme on the next day, after I had spent the night up on a mesa in the Wasatch range, part of the mountain chain that stands between the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau. And luckily that was a downhill day, for which I was repeatedly grateful; it's more than 8 miles down to the small town of Helper. The canyon walk was hair-raising at moments, but breath-taking in a good way, too, and punctuated by dips in the Price River, once to climb over a guardrail and wet my facecloth in a little waterfall, and once to enjoy 'full immersion' under an out-of-the-way bridge. At the waterfall about a dozen big yellow and black butterflies rose up in a cloud as I blundered down to the water. The river is pretty muddy, but very refreshing! This was also a 25-mile day (longest mileage yet), to which my 'walk muscles' will attest.

Between here and Grand Junction, CO (at least) there will be more dramatic and beautiful canyons and rock formations, and a number of distances with no services. I have learned by now that a 'dot on the map' with a name does not necessarily mean anything is there - a very important consideration when provisioning for each stage!