Heat-Moon departs out of Phoenix through blooming saguaros, which are tall cactus plants. As is his wont, Heat-Moon decries the loss of old hotels to the commercialization of the modern hotel industry. Using this as juxtaposition—this overtaking of the old by the onward march of modernity—Heat-Moon points out that the old-fashioned cowboy, much like the old hotels, are soon to become artifacts as well. Heat-Moon enters Utah, eventually finding himself amid a wild thunderstorm. Traveling Utah 14 proves harrowing, as the higher the ascent into the mountains, the more drastic the weather changes. He’s now in a full-on winter landscape and ultimately must stop because the road was blockaded by an avalanche. He spends the night in his bunk in Ghost Dancing, sleeping poorly because of the weather.

When the morning comes, a stiff and tired Heat-Moon emerges from Ghost Dancing, happy to be alive and unharmed. He retraces his route back down Utah 14 and heads toward the Mormon town of Cedar City, at the edge of the Escalante Desert. He travels to Southern Utah State College and befriends a student named Kendrick Fritz, a Hopi Indian. Fritz speaks about his family and Hopi culture, showing pictures from the Book of the Hopi.