Okay so I decided for Spring Break last year that it was time to do a circle tour across the south end of Utah eventually meeting up with a cohort friends in Moab for St. Patrick's Day. After about a week of time spent visiting the National Parks that are strung out along Route 12, I took one last pre-Moab detour into Canyonlands. After signing in with the ranger station for a backcountry pass, I went straight for the famed Upheaval Dome trailhead.

I was on the trail no more than 45 minutes after sunrise and it was already cooking outside. Peeling off the layers as the afternoon heat set in, I changed my goal from enjoying scenery to securing a source of water to filter from and refill my camelback, and then to look for shade.

I remembered an episode of Man vs. Wild where Bear Grylls was in the Moab area and had warned of the heat exhaustion but encountering such intense heat in a month that, for most of Utah is still very cold, was a bit unusual. On my hike down the Upheaval Canyon creek wash I managed to find a spring to filter some water from. After a refreshing splash on the face it was time to look for some shade. At first, following Man vs. Wild's advice, I was looking for caves and eventually found one but no sooner had I gotten comfortable after a late lunch then the sun had found the cave as well. It was time to move again. A few more bends in the canyon later, I spotted a ledge with some juniper trees that was suitably up out of the flash flood danger zone and climbed up. There, I found a rare, flat sandy area in the shade of a grove of junipers and just the right size for my Baku 1 tent. I set camp and fell into a deep wonderful sleep--the wind blowing softly through the mesh doors.

In the heat, you forget to take in and enjoy the sounds and smells of the desert landscape. I was enjoying a dusty sweet smell I never did discern the source of when suddenly the deafening quiet was broken by some small cobble-sized chunks of red sandstone tumbling down off the canyon wall near my tent. Somewhat alarmed, I sat up and stuck my head out the door. To my total amazement, there were a pair of mature Big Horn Sheep standing at what couldn't have been more than about 60 feet away from me and were apparently just as shocked to see me as I was to see them! I've never been that close to Big Horn Sheep before, or since. It was incredible. I wasn't sure if I was in danger or not but for a good minute or two I just sat there motionless, staring back at them, wondering what their next move would be. Eventually they decided to turn and head the other direction but it seemed apparent that even though my Baku allowed me to pitch shelter on a narrow rocky ledge, I still posed a threatening obstacle to them in what would have likely been their preferred route down off of Buck Mesa.

I had a great week in my Baku. It has been with me now for 2 seasons and heading into a 3rd. It has seen 14 national parks and I've lost count of how many times I've used it. I love it for solo trips because it is lightweight and sturdy and pitches in half the time with less trouble than most tents because of its mostly single-wall construction eliminating the fuss of a fly. A small footprint like a bivy but tall enough to sit up in and have room to get changed. A great design for my needs.

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I was so thankful I had this!

What a view!