Moab Part 1

So, having had quite a lot of fun in Albuquerque, it was time to head to Moab.  Mandy decided that she had enough time off to join me for a few days in my quarter-life crisis (sweet!).  Well, this was going to be a lot more fun with a second person along, so we packed up everything we thought we would needed and pointed our convoy to Moab.

Of course, our plan was to drive to Moab that day and camp at night once we got there.  Of course, like any good plan, we didn't follow it.  We made it as far as southern Colorado, got distracted by all of the trees, and decided it would be a good place to camp.  We found a sweet little campsite and setup shop.

 Of course, we tried to go hiking that evening.  That didn't work out all that well.  The trail we chose immediately crossed a river, and of course there was no bridge.  Oh well, at least the rocks are smooth, lets just try to hike it!  Well, eventually we made it across without anyone really falling in the water, only to be greeted by a private property sign.  Huh, where does the trail go?  Maybe around the sign?  Nope that just turned into a driveway.  Dang it, fine, we have been defeated by the trail.  After about 45 min, we gave in, took the bridge (which turned out to be part of the driveway) back across the river, and headed toward camp.

The next day, on the way to Moab, we saw some pretty spectacular vistas.  I had to hike up a hill at the side of the road to take a few pictures.  Man, was it worth it.

 Once we made it to Moab, it was time for some hiking and off-roading in Arches national park.  The park just blows my mind.  The forces required to chisel out all of that stone and leave just an arch standing is amazing.  The iconic Delicate Arch is crazy, just hanging out on the side of a cliff, nothing at all to support it.  How in the world do you get a structure like that from random natural forces?

Yes, I was rocking a bandana.  Yes, that might make me sort of redneck.

 The next day dawned, as any good day should, without any plan.  After some wandering around and talking to the tourism center, we settled on renting a kayak and floating down the Colorado.  The views were epic, and the water was awesome.  The part the we floated, just north of Moab, was only class 1 and 2 rapids, but still enough to be interesting!  The second half of the day was spent trying to make headway into what felt like a 100mph headwind.  It was probably only 20-30, but still enough to bring you to a dead stop when you quit paddling.

 Once we made it down the river, we still had all afternoon to kill.  I had heard that the sunsets at Arches are spectacular, so off we head for a little more hiking.

 We met a very interesting group of people, and apparently their thing is to go around the country and come up with interesting poses for pictures.  They were a lot of fun to talk to, and made the evening quite entertaining.

Mandy was headed back to Albuquerque the next day, but I am staying for a little bit longer to enjoy the mountain biking and hiking.  More pictures to come!