...At least the M and B half of the acronymic moniker (bestowed by your's truly) that represents Maia, Owen, Anita and Brent. They brought food, bikes and beer, so of course they are welcome to our table...but not our living quarters.
We crammed a lot into the two and a half days they were in camp, starting with a hike to view Disney-esque features on the less-trodden backside of Arches National Park.
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| Kamp Klondike |
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Kamp MOAB
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Less than 20 minutes of hiking and we were treading Arches' white sandstone...heading for one of the red "loaves" pictured below, second "loaf" from the right. From there we figured we'd just "wing it," per usual.
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| Park boundary |
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| Such traction..."Trust your shoes, Maia!" |
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| Almost there, to the second loaf from the right. We pause to appreciate the surreal formations below... |
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| Brent (nervously) captures Daughter scaling a cliff. "Maia, don't put so much trust in your shoes!" |
Given MOAB's pending empty nest (Where did all that time go?) the Father/Daughter campout was more or less a parental mandate. Maia was kind enough to rearrange her Spring Break schedule and accommodate the powers at be. Thank you for squeezing us in, Maia!
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| We found a "sidewalk" that allowed us to continue exploring beyond the "loaves." |
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| To THIS!!! Cool. Let's go over there... |
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| I think Maia inherited the "adventure" gene |
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| So Lovely... |
Ultimately, we are "cliffed out." Time to pause, have a snack, and enjoy Utah's red vistas and blue skies.
Now if we can only get back out...
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| Didn't seem that steep going down... |
Ok, on to something a little safer...Maia's first single track experience...
Although we planned to do a "round trip," one way was more than enough for Maia to bite off on her first outback ride. Brent fetched the car so Maia could drive back to camp. Then Bobbie, Brent and I made a loop-back on Dino Way...a fun intermediate trail on the opposite side of the valley.
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| Dino Way |
Real Time Report:
I'm pinned indoors as I finish this post. 50 mph wind gusts are sandblasting Goldie's broadside—a tempest of dust outside, a lingering haze inside. I can literally taste red dirt.
I just texted Bobbie in Lovely Ouray, told her a gale of red dirt is headed that direction. She said she feels sorry for me...
Spring in Eastern Utah seems to have Multiple Personality Disorder. Today, she is Angry-Bitch. This is the price paid to April camp around here. I've been through worse, though, like a time back in the late 70's when a group of us tried to tent camp as a storm front blew through. I trimmed my tent perimeter with boulders to keep it from going airborne. Cooking out in such conditions was an exercise in culinary futility. Nothing quite like the crunch of sand in your oatmeal...
Fantastic header picture. Tell me what brand of shoes I can put my trust in please for those slick rocks. I have tried several and they slide on wet wooden bridges. Single track, a little safer? Right. That wind blowing dust and sand is my least favorite thing about the west.
ReplyDeleteAbout a million years ago, we'll a long time ago I was a poor college student from Florida with a brand new dome tent. Back then getting a campsite inside the park was easier. Well we got our site, set up the new tent and took off exploring. A few houses later ready for dinner we went back to camp to find our tent was gone, nowhere to be seen. I went to see the Ranger to report the theft and he was quite insistent we look around for the tent first. Long story it was found hidden behind a formation and wedged it so it did not blow all the way to Colorado.
ReplyDeleteWe are "enjoying" the wind as well. It's hot, and we can't put up the Fantastic vents to pull the hot air off the ceiling because the steenking wind will rip it off the bus! Good news is that tomorrow the high will drop 20 degrees. Yea!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat slickrock hiking is my very most very favorite. I do love that feeling of how your shoes stick to the "slick" rock. Least slick stuff I have ever hiked on, so much better than loose crumbly metamorphic crap. I miss it. I WILL get there again, eventually, I WILL.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful formations! takes my breath away just looking at your photos.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know the crunch of Moab red dust! It's worth it though to have as much fun as you're having, NOT in the wet cold of spring in the Rockies.
ReplyDelete