Wandering Around Red Cliffs

 I had been getting rather adventurous with my afternoon hikes. The freedom to just go anywhere in Red Cliffs was too alluring and truly there was nothing else to do but check statistics on the covid infection rates and play games with the kids. We had started some afternoon basketball practice at our hoop that was now getting a lot more use. On days that I wasn't hiking, I was often running or going for walks around the neighborhood with Jacqueline. There were many books being read and we were also preparing for our interviews. We were strongly considering moving back to McKenzie. There were two open positions and they would soon interview us.  

We still didn't really know, but in a way we did know. If we had let things get this far, we were seriously considering it. We loved the desert and we were really happy with our house. Our jobs were good and we were paid well. We had great coworkers and our kids were happy, but it would only be this way for so long. In the end, our kids would end up at a different school from us and there were a lot of things that in our lives and at work were out of our control. The other thing it came down to was friends. We had met friends in Southern Utah, but not close friends that we had in Oregon. There were just many more positives for the future in Oregon.

 In Utah, we were kind of stuck in a life that did not quite fit us. It made us happy, but it was not quite what we were looking for. Still, things could go wrong somewhere else, whereas here in Utah, things were easy. Do you trade good and easy for something more risky? These were the questions I could think about while once again hiking up the hill and down it again, then under the freeway through the culvert, and off on whatever direction I felt like going. This time I found a canyon. It was not a very large canyon and it was not a well traveled canyon, but it was one that I had found to follow. Follow it, I did. It was on the border of a higher peak and it snaked its way around it. I decided to follow it for however far it would take me. It eventually led to a tall peak and seemed to emanate from its middle. It wasn't very long before I found another canyon and some more slick rock. The complete freedom of wandering without purpose or direction was something that I really enjoyed about the Red Cliffs area. There were so many different places to explore and unnamed features to find. This was really about exercise and discovery. I wouldn't repeat the hike again or recommend it to others, but when I found myself back at home, I knew I had a great day wandering around Red Cliffs.