The De-Tour: Day 14 — It’s not over till it’s over

September 30, 2017.

We slept soundly through the night, but when I woke up in the morning, I was immediately out of bed to take advantage of what I knew would be some very cool light before the sun got too high in the sky.

As it turned out, I’d be extra glad to have gotten up, because the early morning light was soon going to be a torrential lightning storm.

But, for now, it was purples. And oranges. I don’t know what we did to deserve this, but whatever it was, I’m sure we’d all sign up again.

And then, as the sun crested the horizon, I felt like I wanted to be in a dozen places at the same time to get all the different angles. I probably should have woken up the rest of the crew, now that I think about it, but I guess I didn’t know how fleeting the moment would be.

As I and the sun climbed higher, more sun spilled into the valley. The rest of the world was waking up — witnessed by the contrails above us, and the noises rising from the valley below.

Between pictures, I had a great time throwing a few rocks off the cliff. A 7–8 second flight time meant (I think) that we were about a thousand feet up — at least, as far out/away from the cliff as I could throw a rock!

Warmed by the sun, I could see storm clouds to the distant west. And unfortunately, they were getting closer as the rest of the gang climbed down their ladders to greet the day. Still, Monte and Mike both had their cameras out, capturing what they could while the getting was good!

As I headed back down to camp, I couldn’t help but take some of the same photos I’d taken on the way up. “The light is different.” I told myself.

Whether it was or wasn’t, it didn’t matter, and you shouldn’t care either. Because this place was amazing — worth looking at over and over.

Knowing that it was our last real morning in camp, Monte and Devin volunteered to make everyone breakfast — all the bacon, eggs, and potatoes we could find in our fridges. Not needing to be asked twice, Mike and I both brought over all our supplies, along with truckloads of thanks.

Devin cut potatoes. Monte cooked (the first time I’d seen it the entire trip!) and not too long after, we were all enjoying our last camp breakfast in one of the most beautiful places we could imagine.

We finished quickly though, because those storm clouds were getting closer, and we could see that they were full of lightning. As adventurers, we thought that was pretty cool. As humans, we wondered, “Is the top of a plateau a good place to be in a lightning storm?”

It wouldn’t be the last time we had that thought today. And it’s not often you can say that twice in a day. In two different states.

Find out what happened in at It’s Not Over Till It’s Over at adventuretaco.com.

Originally published at adventuretaco.com.