Pictures will be uploaded once I have access to them!
This will probably be my last update as I am writing from the comfort of my humble abode. That would mean that yes we made it home safely and let me tell you, it has been quite the journey. So I'm picking up after Flagstaff, AZ. The amazingly beautiful, intelligent, generous, and selfless Tamara Lawless, a long time friend of both of ours, picked us up from Flagstaff because we were running short on time. It was my ultimate goal to visit her at the end of the trip, so it worked out well. So Tam made the 6 drive down from Moab, UT to pick our lazy asses up, which is probably a good thing because it ended up raining for the next five days in a row. I told Danny it was because we weren't keeping in contact with our pure blooded Native American tribal master, Greg Dunkelberger, who is trained in the art of rain dancing. He said that if we fell out of contact with him he would do a rain dance that would cause it to rain for a week straight. Danny and I both quickly learned our lesson and started texting him rapidly. The rain ended up being a good thing because the desert needs water every once in a while.
So when Tamara arrived we gave her the biggest hug ever and headed off to Moab. I was driving because Tamara had to work in the morning. The silhouette of the red mesas was beautiful at twilight. I only wish I would have seen northeastern Arizona during the day because it was the last unexplored corner of the state. It was an extremely windy night but we made it to Moab safely. Moab is a small town of about 5,000 people. Tucked away in the scenic canyons of the Colorado Plateau, Moab is a quaint little town with a touristy vibe, but it is still very nice. It helps to maintain business in such a desolate place.
Tamara snapped a shot of Danny's amazing marbled tan
Danny and Chelsie in the Devil's Garden
The next morning we woke up and I went for a 50 mile bike ride. It felt good to be on the bike again, but I miscalculated the headwind on the way back and was late getting back. I caught up with Tam, Chels, and Danny on the Devil's Garden trail. The first arch I saw was Landscape Arch, which is the longest natural arch in the world. I'm glad we saw it because slabs of sandstone cracked and fell from the arch just a few years prior, and no one knows how much longer the arch will be around for. Sadly this is the nature of the many formations of Arches National Park, time coupled with erosion will ultimately destroy these masterpieces, but new ones will be created in their dust. We finished the Devil's Garden trail and headed to Delicate Arch, which is the most popular arch - you can even find it on the back of Utah's license plate. There was a moderately strenuous 1.5 mile hike to the arch. As we approached Delicate Arch Tam made me close my eyes so I could truly appreciate the natural beauty of the arch. Stumbling over cracks in the sandstone, she excitedly told me to open my eyes. Our jaws dropped as we took in the scale of the arch. I didn't realize it was so massive.
Danny, Tam, and I under Delicate Arch
We were lucky enough to be there after a light rain. As the sun came back out it created a rainbow just over the arch, which is rare because it doesn't rain much. It was spiritual moment and I felt extremely happy sharing it with my friends. The view from delicate arch was amazing - probably the best of the trip. I never would have thought that Arches would beat the Grand Canyon in hand to hand combat, but it delivered a knockout that day. I felt like I was in Jurassic park. The landscape is so surrealistic with the petrified dunes, arches, fins, and surprisingly vast array of plant life. We sat there until the rainbows disappeared and headed out for a pot luck at one a fellow park ranger's house. We ended the night with a competitive game of cribbage. Tam and I got skunked. Later that night we had a slumber party in the spare bedroom.
Amazing rainbow over delicate arch...Soo Beautiful!
The next day we dropped Tamara off at work just outside the park down the Courtyard wash trail. We checked out some petroglyphs along the way which were cool. This trail was on the other side of the rock face leading to the park, so it was well shaded as we were walking through a canyon. Tam forgot a cookie pan so I had to run back to her place and grab it. Unfortunately I lost track of the cairns along the trail and ended up taking the wrong trail. After about 30 minutes I found my way back to the main trail. Danny came back looking for me so that was nice. We did the fiery furnace trail that day, which was a blast. The grittiness of the sandstone allowed us to scale tall boulders fairly easily. I never anticipated the type of climbing we'd be doing in the furnace. We had to watch a short video before entering the furnace because the trails aren't marked and people are supposed to avoid cryptobiotic soil and social trails. Danny and I aced the test and were granted access to this special quiet area. The whole time we were in the furnace we only saw 5 or 6 people. There are a lot of hidden treasures in the Fiery Furnace, and we saw a couple of them. One being skull arch, and the other being Surprise Arch. We paused for a moment at surprise arch to soak in the natural beauty of the formation.
We made our way through the rest of the furnace and checked out Double Arch and The Windows. Both of these arches were cool, Double Arch was one of my favorites. The intro to one of the Indiana Jone's movies was filmed near Double Arch. After a long day of hiking we ate at the Moab Brewery, which had excellent food and atmosphere. We met a bunch of Tamara's friends and later several of us climbed a gigantic sand dune just outside her place. It was so fun I had to do it twice. There was sand everywhere after that night. In fact to this day I still feel like I have sand in my shorts.
The next day I dropped Tam off at the Courtyard Wash again. After work we went to the local market to get some ingredients for lunch. We made some vegan delicious vegan pizza and headed out to do some more hiking shortly after. We did a 3 mile trail on the other side of the canyon. Unfortunately I can't remember what it was called, but it's a famous slick rock mountain biking trail and it was quite scenic. Once you make it to the top you can see all of Moab in one spectacular view. It was starting to rain again and there was another pot luck to mooch off of so we went home.
Friday was our last day in Moab. It was a fairly low key day. Danny and I had to buy our train tickets to Milwaukee and pack up our stuff. We went to the market again to get food for dinner. It was also another rainy day. Tam gave us a ride to the visitor's center where Chels was working. Danny and I finished filling out our junior ranger books and picked up litter in the park so we fulfilled all the requirements for our junior ranger badges. Danny's poem was particularly funny, "Crust busters don't give no shits". We recited the pledge and Tamara gave us our badges. She later revoked my junior ranger status when I left the badge in Moab. We went to the recycling plant and Tamara showed us a great swimming hole. The water was still a bit cool but we all went for a dip. We drove down the other side of the Colorado today so Tamara could show us some fossilized dinosaur tracks. On the way Tamara and Danny had to climb some stupid Indian ladder rock thing. Tamara is ridiculously good at climbing, it's quite impressive to watch her. Later that night while Tam and Danny were cooking Chels and I danced under the waterfalls just outside their house. Whenever it rains waterfalls are created as the washes fill behind their house.
The final day in Moab we made a food stop at the grocery. We drove out to Canyonlands which is another National Park about 30 minutes from Arches. We had to see one last arch, and it was Chels's favorite, so we were pretty pumped. Tamara doesn't appreciate this arch as much as the others. She even has a nickname for the arch. She calls it "Honkey Arch", and don't ask me why because when we visited the arch we were the only white people there. The real name of the arch is Mesa Arch, and while the arch is somewhat unimpressive the view through the arch is amazing. We snapped some pictures and rushed back to the car because it was starting to rain again. We made the 1 1/2hr drive to grand junction and Tam dropped us off at the most appropriate place, Walmart.
Danny and I at Canyonlands NP
It was still raining so Danny and I hung out at the Walmart for 5 hours or so. Our train wasn't until the next morning so we had time to kill. We slept outside the train station on a pair of benches and woke up to board the train. We boxed up the bikes and headed home. It was about a 30 hour train ride that included a 4 hour layover in Chicago. It was a beautiful ride that crossed the continental divide and went through some really scenic areas of Colorado. After Colorado it become flat and boring, so we both read a book and rested up. During our layover in Chicago we fed our remaining moldy bread to the seagulls and pigeons. The Malina's picked us up in Milwaukee and took care of us for the next couple of days.
I'm going to stop here for now. I rode into Madison a couple days ago and I haven't really had time to fully process my thoughts. I do want to thank everyone who helped make this trip possible again. Without your support the trip wouldn't have happened and I am so grateful. If you're ever fortunate to take a trip like this, do it. As Rob Malina would say, "It will change your life."
I don't really know what's going on here
Signing out,
Jesse
this makes me want to go visit some arches!
ReplyDeleteyou better believe it!
ReplyDelete