By Sam
When we pulled into Canyonlands National Park campground, Eli and I immediately started tearing up. Why? Enter Devil’s Garden, the Arches National Park campground, where two years ago Eli and I had hiked giant boulders and cliffs so that we almost touched the sky and scared our parents half to death. Now, we were looking at a campground surrounded by mesas that reminded us of that magical day in Devil’s Garden. So, as soon as we decided on a campsite, Eli and I bolted out of the truck and started climbing the mesas while our parents set up the pop-up.
The most challenging part about climbing those steep red rocks was finding hand and foot holds that allowed minimal risk of injury if we fell. The trick to this was to imagine my mother’s face if I came back with a broken ankle. If I found a route that might be a bit risky, I would keep that image in my mind as I made a decision. Eli and I scampered around the mesa, climbing higher and higher until we were almost blown off the cliffs by the wind.
Unfortunately, as we turned around to head back to the camper, Eli and I realized that we could not remember which direction we had come from. In other words, we were lost. Well, sort of lost. We knew with absolute certainty one direction we had to go: down. So, we painstakingly made our way down from the mesa, trying to remember landmarks and which site the pop-up was in. Eventually, we reached the sweet, sweet ground and made our way through the brush to the road. We galloped down the road until we saw our trailer, and even though we had an exiting time, we were happy that our mesa climbing adventure in Canyonlands was at a close.
Great writing!