Day 3: Lake Mead to Zion National Park

Zion is only two hours at the most from Mead, but we are discouraged upon arrival by the shuttle-only transportation into the park, slightly rude rangers and difficult-to-acquire trail info. We decide to leave Zion and go check out a ghost town nearby called Grafton, while speaking vaguely of "vigilante camping", camping somewhere randomly on the side of a road as we had seen others doing. Grafton: not scary. Not creepy. Not weird. Too much restoration. It looked like it was born yesterday. On our way back to Zion from Grafton we see another dirt road and we take it just to see what happens. Our map gives us it's name and after brief discussion of maybe camping there, we instantly get drawn out of some unnamed funk, and get excited. Guy's mood is noticeably different, This is so exciting! he tells me and off we go. Every turn we take makes our hearts beat faster, not knowing what the dirt road might turn into and only the slightest of dirt road maps on my lap. An hour later we find a place to camp. Initially trepidatious due to fear of freaky, drunk local ya-hoos who might want to fuck with us, we soon realize we are very completely alone and whoop and yell and drink and eat and fall into deep, lovely sleep.