My Favorite Part of Kanab

Good morning.

Yesterday was a good trail day, the best we’ve had yet on our travels. We began before dawn with two hours of walking in a paradise of succulents. The Sonoran Desert truly is like no other place on earth.

While we set out in the cold, the sun soon climbed over the mountains and spread her late February kindness before us, and spring was in the air. Birdsong rose with the light and serenaded us, and the gentle scent of thriving plants embraced us.

Huge black-tailed jackrabbits (which are not rabbits at all, but hares) thrilled us whenever we caught a glimpse of one. They are enormous—up to two feet in length—but what stands out are their large feet, five inches long, and towering ears. The surprise comes in not expecting to see a hare this big. It was like we’d stepped into a fantasy world. The hares would freeze to take us in, meanwhile we did not dare move for fear of scaring him or her off!

We’d be walking along when just on the other side of a few cacti, we’d glimpse th…