Amangiri

Thousands of years before European pioneers trekked into the American Southwest, Native Americans were thriving in this arid land in Southern Utah.  And they continue to thrive in the region today.  Amangiri which means peaceful mountain is situated right smack in the middle of the Colorado Plateau which has the highest concentration of National Parks in the United States.  All Aman resorts try to have minimal impact on the environments they occupy, but this one particularly blends most magnificently into the dramatic landscape of these deep canyons and towering plateaus while tucked into a protected valley with sweeping views of the Escalante Grand Staircase, a Unesco World Heritage site. The Sunrises and Sunsets were extraordinary.  It’s a very powerful spot indeed and certainly one reason we chose to have our “partner strategy boondoggle” here in the wild and wind carved sandstone desert with very little cell service.  We started off with a bang as our guide Kyle swept us up along with the views to the famous Hoodoo Via Ferrata which in Italian means iron road. He instructed us how to put on our harness while explaining that he’s had a 6-year-old and a 70-year-old climb this impressive peak and it’s no big deal.  For some of us it was no big deal (guess who) but not all have no fear. It was challenging to say the least but in a good way as we laughed and cried our way to rappelling safety before crossing a ridiculous suspension bridge over a 600 foot deep gorge…think Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark.   The next day, our guide Yermo picked us up in a hummer and told us we were going on a surprise hike into Escalante called Yermo’s canyon….he had quite an ego!  He said that he has never taken anyone here and in fact it’s so secretive that he’s never seen anyone in the area before. Comforting.  Was he ever pissed when we ran into 3 other hikers well into our “3 hour tour”!   He was a character with stories galore about this living laboratory in the desert that we couldn’t stop humming “king of the road” by Roger Miller (we had to goggle it).  Again, there were a few hairy moments as we had to shimmy up a slot canyon and scramble through a bevy of rocks en route out of there but I am here to tell the story!  Our last day we decided we were done with life threatening adventures so we hired Captain Legacy to take us out on Lake Powell with almost 2000 miles of shoreline, pristine water, over 90 picturesque side canyons and secluded bays with sandy beaches where our kayaks awaited.  Mr Powell sure must be proud to have this reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona welcoming 2 millions visitors a year named after him.  We just experienced a snippet of this lake but I could really feel its magic even though the water was too cold to swim. That being said, I couldn’t wait to get back to another magical experience in Amangiri’s huge flotation tank filled with 2 feet of very warm water and  buoyant dead sea salts.  Loved the de-stress meditative time spent floating in space and enjoying the indoor/outdoor spa area. The oh so many in staff were attentive and the food as varied and fresh.  It was a perfect 3 nights spent with our loving partners in crime.  Go West my friends, this is a do not miss bucket list kind of place especially if you like to be pampered.