Kodachrome

Utah 2025 #2

2025-06-14

The dusty Utah back road called Cottonwood Creek takes us to Kodachrome State Park. It was recommended by friends. In the distance, as we approach, odd shapes grab our curiosity.

We slip on coverings to enter the visitor center to ask questions and get orientations. A bright cheery, seemingly very young pair of attendants greet us. They are happy and seem eager to do something in their lull. Huckleberry ice cream is in a bin before us. “A double, please.” We study the park map, as we delight in a tub of smooth cool lavender cream.

What looks like a lesser traveled piece of the park leads to a slowly diminishing road and a huge natural obelisk, which rises out of the flat sandy loam.

This is Chimney Rock.

This park is entertaining and colorful, a land of Hoodoos. There is a calm peace about it, today. It’s not busy with loud crowds of tourist activity. Here, we are away from any tourist, for now. It is too far to walk in the hotter afternoon. Only a trailbike might come this way.

We travel along with the map and are considering the campsites. We dress again to explore rock formations amongst the other visitors. A slow natural rock sculpture rises out of the sand like a grand giant red potato and we climb up it to see the rest of a small valley.

There in the center, is a stiff thin hoodoo, a finger pointing to the sky. A formation of white rock breaks out from the top of it, looking like a coating of cream dripping from its point.

There are more than two suggestive rock formations in this park.

The camping can’t be nude here, there are plenty of families close and in passing proximity. We decide to take our chances finding something in the pinion pine/short juniper grasslands, which we have seen outside of the park. Our literature shows it to be BLM.

We find a shady spot on top of a knoll, soon enough. My hunch works out. Nobody follows us down this road. We’re alone and free until we leave the next morning.

It is cooling off, now. The high for the next few days is forecast for 83F. This is perfect. I set up the tent and find a branch of Juniper to carve and then set inside the Sweat Buddha, which is waiting in the sweat’s garden back home. Our local Tibetan Lama friend sweats regularly with us. He expects this and other specific fillings before he ritually blesses the Buddha and this, he tells us, will stop bad spirits from filling the brass statue.

DF heats up a mushroom cauliflower dinner and we take a walk afterwards.

The view is colorful, pleasing. The evening sunlight accents the local rock colors.

There is a strong grey cloud in the sunset, however. A fire is burning way over on the other side of Bryce Canyon to the west.

The smoke may come our way, but that’s tomorrow. This evening, the exceptionally dark skies give us an incredible ceiling. Stars are so thick and milky that we are having trouble finding the Big Dipper, which is usually such an obvious sight.

When I do find the familiar constellation, a shooting star flies past it. Thank-you….

A long day has us reading a bit, as we fall asleep in our cozy camping nest of a bed and netted top. It has been a while since we cuddled in this home away from home.

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