Moab II

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
There was another light rain last night, that the weatherman did not expect. It added more snow to the mountain peaks, so the peaks really sparkle when the sun sneaks through the clouds.

Since the forecast was for mostly sunny, and it was not so we decided to do grocery shopping and get the tires rotated in the morning, have lunch and they head back to Arches NP. So we did. While the sun was out south and north of us it never did get to Arches. And so it goes.

Our friends, the Wood’s, told us to hike to Delicate Arch, if we could. Meaning, we would like it if we could manage to haul ourselves up the trail. It’s billed as a three-mile hike, with a 475 foot elevation gain. Phooey! It’s longer and much higher. We think it was the most difficult hike we have taken in some time. The trail path is fine, it’s going straight up that winded us. We took 1:15 to do it. Before we got to the end, some we started with were already headed back down. Maybe it was just a bad day for us, as we saw two old geezers in their 70’s, at least, one running it and the other fast walking it.

Since the sun did cooperate we will have to go back up the trail again sometime. Maybe in October?

Thursday, May 24, 2007
We decided to take a break from Arches and go across the road to the northern section of Canyonlands, which is called Island in the Sky. An island because you are on a mesa overlooking the canyons below cut by the rivers and streams.

We had more sun today and the much of the haze was gone, but we had thin cloud cover on most points of the compass all day.

In the morning, we did the short hike to Mesa Arch and spent some time just sitting and looking out at the canyons. After driving to a few more overlooks, it was lunch time. We had a short nap in the van and Dorothy said she wanted to try the hike to Upheaval Dome. And so we did. This hole in ground was likely caused by a meteorite. Whatever, it is a great view into more canyons. We lingered for an hour or so on top of one the slick rock overlooks. That’s when the feeling of tired muscles overcame us and we realized that we would not get back to the CG until after 5. Recreating is hard.