That's What She Said: Moab part 1

Moab!

Earlier this summer John was perusing various options for rafting classes (to prepare for a big Grand Canyon adventure next year!). He sent me a list, but I really only saw one line. It has been way too long since we have been in Utah and we loved Moab the last time we were here (10 years ago, and also in August). Although August is far from an ideal month to be there, I basically said "you're going" and signed him up.

We had a couple days before John launched down the river for his class, so we immediately set off to explore a bunch of trails in Arches National Park.

Enjoying sunrise on the red rocks and the fact that it's not hot yet:

Our view from that spot - Delicate Arch, really quite astounding that this formation exists:

Checking out little amphitheaters and loving all the great sandstone shapes:

Our first petroglyphs of the month:

For something new (to us), we drove to the end of the road for a different view of Delicate Arch, that's pretty cool:

Starting on a big loop through Devil's Garden, we hiked over to Tunnel Arch - one of the thicker ones we saw:

Pine Tree Arch, perhaps named because of the view on the other side:

A creative photographer could get all kinds of fun photos in this park. Here's my one attempt:

We heard a kid say to his family, "you've seen one arch, you've seen them all" and we completely disagree! But we kept that to ourselves. He did keep going despite this, and hopefully changed his mind just a little.

Landscape Arch is still here, yay! I'm not sure how though. The park apparently agrees, because you can no longer go underneath it.

Trekking between fins:

Admiring the view:

John climbed along a long fin, and I couldn't resist getting a picture of this so I had to scramble up onto it too:

John's view of me taking a picture of him:

A bit of stemming practice, just for kicks:

We made a "new friend" when we stopped for a snack. No food for you! Even though you are super cute:

John's phone takes wide photos by default, which turned out great in this spot:

The "Primitive Loop Trail" has some...interesting spots. It was all fun and games except one steep downclimb that I was not fond of. Other than that though, I really enjoyed all the variety.

Heading further west, to a quieter part of the loop:

Double O Arch, super cool:

Peek a boo...

All the way to the Dark Angel at the far end of the loop - I think this is visible from quite some distance away. Hello, Dark Angel!

Crazy fins and things:

It was worth the little side trip to Private Arch:

We ran out of water toward the end of the loop (forgetting just how much more we should be carrying out here), so we sucked down a bunch at the truck and then headed over to see the campground for the first time. Looks like a neat place to stay for a couple days, someday.

Newly refreshed, we set off on one more small loop to see Broken Arch. Along the way there was a sign pointing to Tapestry Arch (not on our map) - bonus arch!

I love this sign - "Trail Continues Through Arch"

So - not yet falling down, but fractured enough to call it "Broken Arch" - and apparently no concern about putting the trail right through it:

Broken Arch from a distance (must have been neat to discover this area for the first time and wonder what all this is about!):

A petroglyph in sculpture form (thanks for the photo, John!)

I dropped John off at OARS for his class, then spent the next several days exploring various trails around Moab. There's a trailhead basically right behind the rafting company, so it made sense to start there and climb up toward Hidden Valley (through the Barney Rubble section, too funny). Lots of great rocks to see here too:

Another early start to try to beat the heat, enjoying the sunrise colors:

Hidden Valley is a neat discovery at the top of the hill, rather unusual for around here:

The "Petro" dot on my map led me to some rock art. Kind of suggests a treasure map?

Side trip over to the "Old Folks Home" for a nice view of town, with the Arches area on the horizon:

Following the ATV trail was fun (I'm still amazed that vehicles can drive that stuff), over to the trail down the other side:

Running back along the Pipeline trail was warm, as expected, and I almost carried enough water this time.

I finally set my alarm early enough (and got out the door carrying snacks instead of eating breakfast first). I starting up the bike path before the sun was up. Early morning temperatures were wonderful, as was the pre-dawn sky:

I climbed up the Porcupine Trail for a few miles, super enjoying the path up along the huge side canyon and the ascent to the plateau. The scenery continually changed, and I was (as usual) happy to be on foot instead of on a bike, so I could enjoy it along the way: