Japan Visits the Falls

I was on my way back from Footbridge Falls, which is just a few minutes away from The Homestead. As I walked, I could hear some loud voices. After a while, I encountered a pair of Japanese men decked out in the latest, well, adventure gear, I guess you call it. It is that stuff that REI insists you must have in southern Utah. I don't know quite what it is, but, you know, the three-sided, wicking, cooling, shading techno-hat with the long back that looks kind of like a mullet, and all that other stuff. Anyway, in broken English one of them asked me which way to the falls. I gestured, and tried to explain. They looked confused. So, I raised my voice, because everyone knows that when someone does not speak your language the way to help them is to shout. It seemed to work. They smiled, and nodded, and moved off down the trail. Probably they had no idea what I was talking about, but didn't want to risk having me explain it to them with a bullhorn. In any case, I'm often surprised at how the little, local sites that seem so mundane are on the itinerary of the international traveler.