In 2009, I made my first visit to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. It no longer exists as such, but at the time it was the Southwest’s largest protected area. I was preparing to move from West Coast to East, and decided to explore southern Utah by car and bike. I hit the popular national parks, from Zion to Arches—but it was Grand Staircase Escalante, formed sixty million years ago, that stunned me like nowhere else. I’d complete another cross-country move and a career change before returning, but in times of trouble I’ve often gone back there in my mind.
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