Occupation of Independence

Jumbled.  That seems like the best word to describe the rocks around here.  From the little girl's point of view, rocks make for a great playground.   But my goodness, these giant boulders have all fallen from the cliff, and there are new boulders thinking about it.  Look at how precarious the boulder is in the top center of this photo: On the other hand, some rocks look pretty stable:

What is the ultimate luxury for a camper?  One good answer would be "a hot shower with 20 gallons of water." Another good answer would be "basking in the winter sun."   In the winter it is easy to feel giddy on a sunny day, after suffering the relentless onslaught of hot sun the rest of the year.   It feels like skin candy to feel warm sun and chilly air at the same time.   I have actually walked around outdoors without my Henschel hat and  deliberately exposed m any square inches of skin to the sun!   For the ultimate luxury in winter camping, I parked with the trailer's door facing south -- something that I never do the rest of the year.  Normal screen would have been better than the solar screen that I have. In a small and non-descript arroyo, there was quite a wonder if you look at it right.  Imagine you are a lizard on a chilly winter day and found a palace like this to luxuriate in! I was hoping that my little dog would crawl in and pose, but the lizard-

  Have you ever thought what an ordered list of your favorite landscape features would look like?  Near the top of my list would be high mesas and plateaus, ridgelines, and perhaps reefs at the very top.  Utah seems to be the reef capital of the West. Q.t. π might agree with me. It is very satisfying to play a day right.  It was almost too cold to ride here in central Utah.  So we walked instead.  Besides staying warm, walking allows you to get into rougher places. Chilly air, dry air, sunlight, and a light wind.  I love winter.

Central Utah.  I am adjusting to some pleasant surprises from the 20 pound cockapoo/miniature poodle that I adopted in February of this year.  I treat her as my sweet little girl, but in fact she is quite rugged.  Especially her feet. She is going through a 'mid-life career change' and needs to learn about things she didn't experience in her former life in a Phoenix apartment.  She loves to run to the edge of cliffs and to scare me into a near heart attack. It is hard for a human to look at things from a dog's point of view.  After all, they are closer to the ground, have four paws on the dirt, and have sharp toenails.  Let's zoom out on that last picture: At some point I have to stop being so over-protective of Q.t. π and trust in animal instincts. But that is tough when you visit places with sheer vertical drops of several hundred feet! My goodness, around my little dog I have become as sentimental and soft-headed as a doting grandpa.  But what a service the littl