9/13/24: Bucket List Item-Hike Tuascahn Saddle

In looking over my posts I am realizing this blog might be a little depressing and sound kinda defeatist in tone.  I do want to make it clear that at this moment I am still hoping for a victory here and am doing whatever I can to make it through this battle.

That being said I am starting a little "Bucket List" on the side of this blog somewhere that list the things I want to do if  when (that's positivity) I beat cancer.

1. Hike Tusacahn Saddle in Utah (Again).

A couple of years ago I was looking for something to engage my active lifestyle.  At least I wanted to try to be more active.  On my lovely wife's urging I made a reservation to go to Movara in Ivins, Utah in January 2022 for a week.

Movara is a fitness camp.  It is mostly an all-inclusive fitness resort.  If this were a different time it would be called a "Fat Camp."  The meals are prepared for you by a professional chef.  There is a spa on site.  Your room is cleaned daily.  Your job for the week is to participate.  The afternoon is stocked with fitness classes and a variety of workouts.  The highlight for me was the morning hikes around St. George and Snow Canyon State Park.

In that week I discovered how much I really liked hiking.  And there are endless places to hike in this part of Utah (Yes, I know that there other more famous hiking areas in Southern Utah as well).  But in those 3 or so hours we would cover miles of trails and hundreds of feet of elevation. Sometimes we'd be on rocks, Sometimes we'd be on sand.  The time passed so quickly because there was so much to see and the conversation with total strangers become friends by the end of the week.

The hiking groups are divided up by ability, and near the end of the week typically the more advanced groups do "The Saddle."  I was nervous both times when this one came up.  Its about 5mi long with 1,200ft of elevation.  Basically of of the climbing is in the first mile or so.  Looking up from the trailhead is a little intimidating.  But when you reach the top and look down the feeling of accomplishment makes it all worth it.

I want to feel that accomplishment again.  And God willing, someday I will.

Me-Looking down "The Saddle" (Jan 2023)