Canyons, dirt roads and bees

Last evening at our campsite, we were immediately greeted by yellow jackets, they grew in number and were even more interested when we broke out the food and beer.  They wouldnt leave us alone.  Sunset shortly followed by moonset was a sight to see.  The picture depixelated at right doesnt quite get it right.  The moon was crescent, but you could see the remainder of the moon in the low ambient light of the Utah desert.  The stars and some planets were visible as well.  I swear the real photo looks much better.  We awoke shortly before sunrise, I made us coffee, bacon and eggs, our standard camping breakfast fare on this trip, and then headed into Canyonlands.  The scene is similar in many ways to the Grand Canyon, but wider and with more plateaus.  Its cut by both the Colorado and Green Rivers.  We asked at the visitors center about slot canyons in the area, and the woman spoke with confidence about one on the way to Zion, well, sort of on the way.  So we set off looking for some adventure and we found it.  A 30 mile dirt road, some mild off-roading, what turned out to be a detour, since we did cut off about 18 miles of Rt 70 in the process, turned out to be nothing but a chase for wild waterfowl.  There were no slot canyons, nothing even closely resembling slot canyons.  There was some beautiful scenery, and a lot of dirt/dust, an enormous cloud kicked up by the truck as I barrelled down the straighter, flatter sections as fast as the terrain allowed.  When we got to the far side, and stopped for lunch, we found a 1/4 inch of multicolored dirt collected on most of the truck, including the rims.  We pushed on to Zion, camped just outside as the inside campgrounds were full(it has showers, Sarah was very happy) and are prepping for an ascent of Angel's Landing tomorrow.  Sarah is not looking forward to another long hike, or the steep drop-offs, but will appreciate the views, when she opens her eyes that is.