We took the Burr Trail road down into Capitol Reef, Waterpocket Folds, deep desert and the sun going down. We parked the truck, hiking around, we were up on a hillside and then it was dark, no moon. Listening to the night, we sat for awhile.

Then… we heard barking sounds way off to our right, below us in the darkness. The sounds were coming right towards us! The sounds of several creatures barking and yipping and running towards us as we sat frozen and silent in half-wonder, half-fear. The sounds came closer and closer, then passed below us at the bottom of the hillside, about 30 feet away. The sounds continued, trailing off into the darkness until we couldn’t hear them anymore.

Finally we spoke. “Wow.”