Jon and I got up just after dawn, to ride the famous Slickrock Trail before the sun got too hot. Though it wasn’t our first experience on slickrock – that was last night – it was an awesome loop, 10 or so miles over grippy, rolling rock, following the painted white dashes. The views over the Colorado River were amazing in the early light. By the time we got back to the van it was scorchio-hot, I wouldn’t want to do this in the middle of the day!
We’d run out of food again, so we stocked up in the supermarket. We can fit about 3 days’ worth of fresh food in the fridge, after which we have a couple of meals of non-perishables, and then need to find a shop again. We’re eating out now and then, but generally cooking in camp. Heading north out of Moab we drove into Arches National Park, only a few miles out of town. The plan was to head straight to campsite which was shown as being full, but in the past we’ve had success finding a space where someone had cancelled, or the rangers hadn’t quite got things right. This time it really was full. It’s a small site and all the pitches are reservable, and it supposedly fills up months in advance. But Rose chatted up the camp host and he let us stay in the group area – result!
The arches park is stunning. Driving in from the visitor centre you climb a steep, twisty road between huge red walls of rock, overlooking the Moab geological fault which created the valley below. Even though the whole town is surrounded by rock, cliffs and desert, it still feels like you’re entering a different place. The ochre coloured walls are so steep, so big and such a strong colour. Amazing shapes everywhere – not just arches. After a while you think you’re getting desensitised to incredible scenery, but then something comes along that sets the barrier even higher – the Arches National Park is one of these places. We explored a few spots, took a bunch of pictures and soaked it all up.
The classic sunset Thing To Do is to hike up to Delicate Arch, Utah’s state symbol, which catches the setting sun. It’s a mile or so away from the parking lot, but even though it’s a strenuous walk there were crowds of people up there waiting to get their own classic photo. It’s an impressive amphitheatre of rock, with the arch sitting on the back rim. Mr Sun wasn’t playing ball tonight though, and tucked behind a big bank of storm cloud early in the evening, so no glowing gold sunset for anyone.
Back at camp, it got really windy which meant no camp fire, but on the plus side also meant no mosquitoes. The sky cleared up to reveal gazillions of stars. I love the night sky in the desert – usually with no trees around you get a good view of the whole hemisphere – and you’re miles away from any bright city lights. We’ve not had a moon for the past couple of weeks, so the night skies have been sensational.
Road and Ocean 