Boulder

[Pictures will be added later, sorry!]

After Moab, my next destination is Bryce. The drive from Moab to Bryce is long and quite desertic. That said, the road goes through all kinds of deserts, depending on the relief, the altitude, the type and the colour of the rocks. Yellow, grey, white, red, orange... And also green in the mountains where there are big forests. I went by plenty of places that were screaming at me with their little high-pitched voices "Hike me! Hike me!" It was tough not to stop.

Tired by hours of driving, I stopped in the mountains near Boulder (a small assembly of houses that barely merits the qualificative of "town") and went in a random 4-wheel-drive trail. My car didn't go very far, but I went on on foot and made quite a hike out of it (maybe 4 hours?).

It was all above 9000 feet (nearly 3,000 meters of altitude!) but I was surprised to meet quite a lot of snow! Sometimes it would hold, but most often it would just give and I'd find myself with snow up to above my knees in some cases! I was fun but it made for slow progress and a very tiring hike.

I had no map and no precise idea of where I was. I followed the signs for "Meeks lake". Unfortunately, near the end (I was quite high by that time), there was a lot of snow and it was either hiding the trail or making it impracticable. I tried to find my own way, but progress was slow and I eventually had to renounce.

Even so, it felt good to do something completely random!

Back at the car, it was getting quite late and Bryce was still a fair bit away. I was so cold and tired, I didn't feel like camping at all that night. So I spent the night in a motel near Boulder. It was more money than camping, but after 2 weeks of tent, it felt great.

It was also a good occasion to watch American TV.

One amazing thing I saw was an ad for a sleeping pill. It started as a normal ad, where you see a lady having an insomnia and being unhappy and tired, and then she takes the pill and she is peacefully sleeping and the next day at work she is rested and happy. But then, as the relaxing little music went on, and you could see footage of the lady peacefully sleeping, the voice-over went on for what felt like ages listing all the possible unwanted side-effects, including things like hallucinations and suicide! It was in sharp contrast to the peace of the music and the pictures. This was quite an experience. Only in America.

I also saw a couple of ads for attorneys specialised into helping people claiming "what is fair" from insurance companies. One ad was specialised against drunk drivers!

Today, I'm in Bryce National Park, where I'm going to spend the next two nights. Then I'll probably head to Las Vegas, and then back to Phoenix...