Dear E.
You would not believe it! So you know we went to fairyland and I though that the world would not get any stranger. Well it did. Uncle iKaruS and I went hunting goblins along with Sir BillyBob, Holy and Toffee.
We set off on our hunt early one morning, leaving our bright yellow tent behind and driving into the flat desert. Least it looked flat, scrubby land surrounded us and to the horizons pink mountains rose on almost every side. Still the land we drove over was flat, Uncle iKaruS even saw an antelope and we thought we might have been in Africa but no we were just in the Utah desert. We did look later for more to take their photo but they must have been shy. Someone told us about the goblins so we headed off to find them, past the stop sign that was covered in graffiti. It was the place to look for Goblins where the legends mingled in colour of the plains.
The wind was blowing fiercely and thunder clouds were gathering kicking up dust and making us both glad for our glasses that wrapped across our eyes. Make a note that a good pair of glasses is a very important tool to go goblin hunting. Better if we had goggles but we made do with what we had. It was a wicked wind as though we were being given a warning. Still we persisted and after loading up with Sir BB, Holy and Toffee, enough water for us all and a snack we set off. The land went from flat to cracked, there was no water but it looked like old streams had caused the land to subside and open. Holes into the other worlds, the land being slowly stripped away and washed down onto the flats. It wasn’t exactly pink but orange coloured sands, orange and what seemed to be boring beige colours. Odd tall structures rose from the land in lone shapes, a sign of the shapes to come.
Sometimes it reminded me of my sisters sitting on a big rock outcrop and talking to the wind.
Another place it looked to our mind as though some artist had started to carve the seven dwarfs but then got bored. Or maybe there are more dwarfs than seven and the goblins ate the rest?
Either way as we looked out on the odd tall structures that dotted the landscape we had no idea what we were in for.
The wind dropped off as we headed over the first rise and down into the first strange creek bed. Uncle iKaruS went looking for the path down as it twisted in a confusing branching trail. Some led off to outcroppings of rocks and others to washed out paths. But we made it down to where we had been told to go and found the right tail to the goblin lair. If we were not hunting goblins we might have headed towards Carmel canyon as it sounded close to caramel and you never know when strange magics might happen in the desert. Holy in particular was interested in Carmel but instead we picked up our feet and headed across the sands towards the goblins lair.
By now we were on the floor of a sandy canyon and off to the south a big storm was brewing. We gave it a worried eye but it seemed to be in the distance and down here the wind had eased off. Still we knew that time might run out for our hunt and so we hurried on. It was on an off glance up that I caught sight of my first goblin. It was a sentry high up on the cliff face and watching all that went on below. I could almost feel his wings beat as he landed, and wrapped them around himself.
Still we kept going, we were not going to hurt the Goblin King just say hello if we saw him. We only hunting with the camera after all. Still we told the wind our intent as after the sentry a wall of warriors surrounded us. They didn’t move of make any motion. We should investigate if goblins are like Stompy and Flighty and move only when humans are not looking. The warriors were high up on the cliff wall and a large sand hill rose between us and them as if to keep us on the right track. So we kept going under their watchful eyes.
The lair of the goblin king lay just ahead and we soon crept quietly up the side of the mountain. The lair lay up the hill among tossed boulders hundreds of these big stones thrown down from the mountain. We had to scramble up and up to find the goblins lair.
Sir Billy Bob and ! went on ahead needing to use our hands, knees and bottom to clamber up and down the stone. Uncle iKaruS who still had injured arms had to turn around. Sir Billy Bob and I kept up into the side of the hill where suddenly a hole opened in the side of the mountain. I turned around and took a photo of the view before disappearing into the lair. Uncle iKaruS wondered where I had gone. I wiggled through between boulders having to leave the camera and the water pack outside. Sir BillyBob was placed into a pocket.
He leapt out as we wiggled through rocks and down towards the goblin kings throne. I had to remember all my caving tips as I wedged myself tight against some rock faces. Now you may think it strange but there was one last obstacle a drop onto the floor that wasn’t so tall. But I realised that I might not be able to get back up again so I stared off into the darkness looking for the goblin kings eyes. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom I could see a large room with a flat floor, high above fingers of the goblins gripped a hole in the ceiling and carefully their faced peered over the edge. I stayed still till I realised Sir Billy Bob was not with me any more and uncle iKaruS might be worried about me.
So I carefully made my way back up out of the darkness, near the top Sir BillyBob sat on a rock much like he had at Yosemite, he was sucking his thumb like his does and clearly not really wanting to meet the Goblin King. Outside the storm that had threatened us caught up with us, and I skeeterered down the slop towards the patiently waiting iKaruS. I told him about the lair and he agreed with me that sometimes you have to be braver than brave and turn around than to keep going.
With fat drops of water now plopping through the sky we headed back the way we came, past the waiting warriors, still undisturbed and past the sentry his wings spread into the wind, across the small canyons and back past the seven dwarves.
So you would think that would be the end of our visit to find the Goblin King. But as we sat and relaxed under a shelter with the rain heading away across the plains we saw another valley filled with half formed goblins. So instead of heading back to the bright yellow camp we headed once more down into the valley. Not looking for the goblin king this time but just exploring.
And we found so many wonderful things. Holy, Toffee and Sir Billy Bob all enjoyed the sunshine as they wandered about the rocks
A Giant Hippopotamus with big cocked ears, ready to listen to anything that came near
A stone Rubber Duckie , it will never float and uncle iKaruS thinks it might have even been a dragon about to take flight but I think its a rubber duck!
A wall full of weird and wonderful faces
Uncle iKaruS and I paid our respects then we headed back to camp. We’d not found the goblin king but we did find his lair and his queen. We all slept well that night.
Miss you E.
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