Sharing the Adventure: Caroline Gleich’s Family Trip to Bears Ears
by KEEN Ambassador Caroline Gleich
We had been driving down the rough dirt road for over an hour and I began to question if we were still heading in the right direction. We had cryptic instructions to the trailhead where our desired day hike began, and I was beginning to regret not having a physical map in the car.
My two nieces, Anna and Liz, had flown in from Raleigh, North Carolina, and Reno, Nevada, respectively, taking a long weekend break from their corporate jobs to go on an adventure with me in the newly designated Bears Ears National Monument, in Southeastern Utah, which the current administration announced would be significantly downsized. My nephew, 15-year-old Elliot, was along too, and I could sense their growing anxiety as I began to question my own role as trip leader.
We were almost a hundred miles from the nearest city of Moab—in one of the most remote places in the United States, as far away as you can get before you start coming back to something—and I didn’t want to admit that we might be lost. We decided to head down the road a little longer, and alas, we spotted a Forest Service mailbox containing maps that showed our trailhead was a little further along the dirt road we were on.
I wanted to take my nieces and nephew on a true adventure, and we were having it.
CREATING MEMORIES…AND FUTURE STEWARDS
Growing up, my older siblings and parents would always plan these types of trips. My fondest childhood memories were made when we got in the car and drove to remote places to hike, camp, backpack, and sightsee. Now, as I’m getting older and more experienced in the outdoors, I feel it is my duty to carry on the family tradition, to be the instigator of that type of fun. I wanted to go somewhere remote, where we could connect with nature, and with one another. I wanted to show them Bears Ears National Monument, to show them why we need to fight for the protection of this land and to inspire them, as future leaders, to be good stewards.
My nieces are both out of college and fresh into corporate careers on the East and West coasts. Liz, 25, is an engineer at Tesla, and Anna, 23, works at IBM. I come from a large family with three brothers and three half-siblings that my dad had with his first wife before he met my mom. My half-siblings are much older than me, so I became an aunt when I was only six years old, when my niece, Liz, was born. Anna came two years later. Growing up, I never thought of our family as a “blended” family, and that was especially true when we were outside together, hiking or skiing. Family can mean a lot of different things, and can come in many shapes and sizes. I was so excited when Liz and Anna were born because it meant I had more girls to play with!
Originally, our Bears Ears trip was supposed to be a backpacking trip. Since my favorite childhood memories were backpacking, I wanted to carry on that tradition. But as our summer schedules filled up, dates got pushed back. Now, instead of summer, it was late fall. I had little time to plan.
It’s easy to let a trip idea slip through your fingers. It’s much harder to black out the dates in the calendar, book the tickets and commit. I put together a group text with my nieces, Liz and Anna, and we locked down dates and booked plane tickets. Instead of backpacking, I thought we’d camp. Then, as I was confronted with the reality of organizing camping gear and food for the crew, I decided we’d stay in a condo. Initially, I felt like a failure to myself and to the family. But then, I thought, baby steps. You have to start somewhere. We’re all trying to do the very best that we can.
GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF
It’s interesting how family dynamics can bring out a pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect. I wanted so badly to deliver to them the perfectly curated outdoor experience that they would love and treasure forever. I was romanticizing my own childhood backpacking experiences where we did these long loops through remote wilderness areas like the Wind River Range, the San Juans, and the Sawtooths.
That was the lesson I had to continue to remember as I became trip leader and had the emotional and physical well-being of my younger nieces and nephew in my control. That it wasn’t going to be all smiles and high fives. That the emotions would ebb and flow like waves and the best thing I could do is not take it personally.
It’s easy to forget about long hours in the car, the uncomfortable, forced conversations with family when I was an awkward teenager, and the agony of hiking a long distance with a heavy backpack. I realized that the most memorable experiences were the ones where I was the least comfortable, the times where I said very little. Those long hikes forced me to dig deep and confront my inner demons. If you’d asked me while I was on those trips if I was having fun or enjoying myself, I surely would’ve said no!
That was the lesson I had to continue to remember as I became trip leader and had the emotional and physical well-being of my younger nieces and nephew in my control. That it wasn’t going to be all smiles and high fives. That the emotions would ebb and flow like waves and the best thing I could do is not take it personally.
CONNECTING WITH EACH OTHER, NOT THE WIFI
After we found the map, we continued heading down the dirt road, stopping at the Arch Canyon Overlook to take pictures. We found our trailhead, and began our hike down through Hammond Canyon, in search of the Three Fingers Ruin, an archaeological dwelling high in the cliffs. We started at close to 9,000’ in pine trees and hiked down—spotting two elk and keeping an eye out for black bears along the way. There was a trail but it was very primitive, and we followed the occasional cairns into a wash. Being so remote, the small down-climbing steps we had to make felt more dangerous. I was acutely aware that if one of us were to get injured, help was a long way away. We had to depend on one another in a different way.
We had been hiking for six miles and there was still no sign of the ruins. Because of the delicate nature of archaeological sites, hikers are encouraged not to share GPS coordinates or detailed instructions. It made the pursuit even more fun. We decided to turn around. Then, on our way back, we spotted the ruins high up in the cliffs! We scrambled up the hillside for a few hundred feet, but with daylight hours dwindling (and only one headlamp for the group), we decided to cut our loses and start back up the hill. Once we reached the car, the nieces and nephews were exhausted, and I was a proud aunt for tiring them out. We drove back to town as the sun went down, and marveled as the light faded over the Bears Ears butte.
It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when you spend a whole day in nature with your family. There’s something about it that makes me feel normal again. It’s a break from the stresses of modern society. As my niece Liz said, ‘Yesterday was the wow for my body and today was the wow for my brain.’
The next day, instead of doing another epic hike, we decided to see a few different sites, starting with the House on Fire ruins in the morning. Bears Ears is home to over 100,000 archaeological sites, many of which haven’t been inventoried or studied. I majored in anthropology in college, and I believe there is so much we can learn from Native American culture. Protecting this area is not only relevant to people of Utah – it’s significant to humans all over the world as it is our shared ancestry. We spent an hour or so at House on Fire, marveling in the beauty as the light bounced off the red rock and lit up the ancient dwelling. We walked to another pictograph site where a family had left their handprints on the wall.
It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when you spend a whole day in nature with your family. There’s something about it that makes me feel normal again. It’s a break from the stresses of modern society. As my niece Liz said, “Yesterday was the wow for my body, and today (when we went to house on fire) was the wow for my brain.”
In the afternoon, we drove down to Monument Valley, Mexican Hat, and Valley of the Gods. I was delighted to share some of my favorite places with my favorite people.
TRIP TAKEAWAY: JUST BOOK THE DATES AND GO
As our trip was coming to a close, I reveled in the shared sense of the discovery. During the drives, I explained to my nieces and nephew the backstory and the controversy surrounding the Monument designation, and how the Trump administration and Utah delegation was trying to undo the protection of the land. We all agreed—if Bears Ears was anywhere else in the world, the land would have been permanently protected a long time ago. I hope they will continue and become vocal advocates for wild places.
Adventure isn’t a destination, it’s a state of mind. And the experiences you will share with friends and family along the way are the best gift you can give to one another.
It seems crazy at times, to pack up for a short getaway when there are so many other things demanding our time and attention. Planning and packing for a trip can seem so overwhelming. But when it was all said and done, my intuition proved right—these types of experiences are essential for our physical and mental well-being. When in doubt, book the dates and get in the car and drive. Don’t worry if you don’t have anything planned at all. Adventure isn’t a destination, it’s a state of mind. And the experiences you will share with friends and family along the way are the best gift you can give to one another.
