lichened

All photos Snow Canyon State Park, Utah. March 13, 2010.

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So M and I finally got to go for a hike yesterday.

We've been in Utah for nearly a week but the first few days it was raining and after that, M's parents were golfing, which didn't leave us much time for a good leg-stretch.

Which is not to say that we haven't enjoyed ourselves. I had an entire afternoon to myself, which I spent making my way through the stack of poetry titles I'm reading for the March poetry column.

And yesterday I took part in a poetry workshop in Zion National Park. Though the hike portion of the day's schedule was short and sedate, it was lovely to see a small part of it.

But we were VERY glad to start out from the parking lot at Snow Canyon State Park, map in hand.

Which meant we willfully ignored the few drops of rain that fell, ten minutes in. We only wished we'd brought our rainjackets.

When it started hailing, we were more than halfway down the trail we'd chosen. We were mostly protected from the worst of the driving wind and the styrofoam-sized pellets it carried by the brush and trees and hills.

But by the time we got to the highway, a half kilometer from the parking lot where we'd left the car, we were soaking wet, completely exposed to the wind, and walking uphill.

It was still fun, though. And during those brutal last few minutes, M alternated tucking my freezing hands in his pockets, and his hands inside his pockets were so wonderfully warm.