Every spring I spend time alone in the desert Southwest, camping in remote places, beginning every day watching the stars fade into sunrise, hiking, hunting dinosaur tracks, soaking in remote hot springs, and savoring the fantastic glory of the night sky. In addition to this solitary time, for the last three years I have invited others to join me for week-long camping journeys.

On Talking Rock Tours, the focus is geology and our professor is Gerald Bryant, Ph.D., director of the Colorado Plateau Institute and formerly on the geology faculty at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah. The center of our geology study is the Navajo Sandstone, a 200,000 square mile formation of fossil dunes and pond deposits which is locally littered with dinosaur and other animal tracks. Some of our destinations include Snow Canyon, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, and Valley of Fire State Parks and Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon National Parks. We are hoping to add a paleontologist to our tour for one day in 2019.

The food is fantastic–at least on trips served by Robert Johnston as chef. You might have to pay extra for this luxury.

We sleep in tents or under the stars. Or you can bring your own RV.

Past participants have ranged in age from 9 to 82. We spend our days studying geology and our evenings in conversation around a camp fire.

Cost: About $700. This includes our professional guide, breakfasts and suppers, camp and park entrance fees, ground transportation.

If you wish to be added to my email list for the 2019 tours, send an email with “Talking Rocks 2019” in the subject line to jtmclarty@gmail.com. If you wish, you may call me at 253-350-1211.