Arches National Park

My friend Jim takes months long trips by himself. I have known him to drive 4,000 miles on road, then 500 miles on dirt and then hike 50 miles into the wilderness. Taking nothing but food, water, paper and pen it is Jim and nature. No emergency beacon, no satellite telephone, nothing, just Jim and some beautiful place on this earth. He says it invigorates his soul (my words). I have always envied his courage in taking these trips and played a big part in my willingness to take this trip. At this moment I am writing from within the "wash" in the Primitive Loop of the Devils Garden, a part of Arches National Park in Utah. It is desolate and stunning. This place, suggested by Jim and described in "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey (a perfect gift from Elaine - thank you), reminds me of why I took this trip. At 7:00 am this morning, Independence Day, I took off for a 6 mile quite difficult hike with nary another soul in sight. I took a break after 2 hours and as i was sitting there I noticed how quiet it was, so quiet my ears were ringing. The sun was just beginning to break over the mountain tops and a thought came to me - I wanted to pray. So I did .... and it was a very moving experience. In a place like this the word humility takes on a whole new meaning to me. Certainly I have much to be thankful for, from simply being here to knowing each and every one of you, my family and friends. But more than that I am humbled that a place like this exists. I felt as though this place was "proof" to me that my Creator's grace is unimaginable by me. And thank God for that as I could never come up with something like this! A dear friend of mine reminded me yesterday that I do not have a fixed schedule, that by trying to race around to make up for lost time would take away from the main purpose of this trip. Thank you, because it was that advice that kept me here another day and it has been an amazing day! One last thing - I love sending postcards; I just love it! If you would like to get some from me along the way please email me at ralphcurt@gmail.com and send me your address. As with phone calls, you would be doing ME a huge favor! I love sending them. Happy July 4th everyone!!

ODO - 1514 to 1626