Wednesday evening, we are camped in a BLM campground just above the Negro Bill Canyon and trail. We are on the Colorado river bank with cliffs towering above us at least 400-600 feet or more as it is difficult to gauge their height. They are impressive to put it mildly. Being on the river is a real treat. We are looking forward to seeing what happens with the sunlight on the canyon walls in the morning.
This afternoon David and I rode to Arches NP and back, just over 12 miles most of which was on a bike trail! Moab, UT must be biker heaven for both mountain and road biking. We have seen so many folks riding in Arches as well as trail riding, for which there's an extensive network of trails. Recommendation to all our mountain and road biking family and friends...get your wheels out here, it is amazing.
Of course, no trip to Arches is complete without paying homage to Ed Abbey, the writer/activist who worked at Arches for a couple of years in the '70s. David was hoping to find an Ed Abbey sweatshirt or something similar in the park's visitor center, but all they had were copies two or three of his books like "Desert Solitaire" (although they had neither "A Fool's Progress" nor "The Monkeywrench Gang", David's favorites). We did pick up a recent biography of Ed: one which got good reviews in "The Economist".
Thursday, March 31. After one of our typical great breakfasts we headed to Arches and hiked the Devil's Kitchen trail. This is a very interesting trail that goes by at least eight arches. It starts out easy and progresses into a trail going up over "fins" towering 100 or more feet on one side and maybe 30-40 on the other. The wind was howling and that just made the traverse of the fin more interesting and exciting. We ate our lunch on the trail with a small chipmunk keeping a close eye on us from ever changing vantage points. It is a great hike and we were amazed to see so many folks were not properly attired or equipped- no hat, no water, flip-flops for foot wear heading out for what could easily be a four or more mile trek.
Crossing the fin, I know it doesn't look high, but it really, really was!
This afternoon David and I rode to Arches NP and back, just over 12 miles most of which was on a bike trail! Moab, UT must be biker heaven for both mountain and road biking. We have seen so many folks riding in Arches as well as trail riding, for which there's an extensive network of trails. Recommendation to all our mountain and road biking family and friends...get your wheels out here, it is amazing.
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| Sunset on the Colorado, from our campsite. |
Of course, no trip to Arches is complete without paying homage to Ed Abbey, the writer/activist who worked at Arches for a couple of years in the '70s. David was hoping to find an Ed Abbey sweatshirt or something similar in the park's visitor center, but all they had were copies two or three of his books like "Desert Solitaire" (although they had neither "A Fool's Progress" nor "The Monkeywrench Gang", David's favorites). We did pick up a recent biography of Ed: one which got good reviews in "The Economist".
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| Breakfast! Paul's Special coming up. |
Thursday, March 31. After one of our typical great breakfasts we headed to Arches and hiked the Devil's Kitchen trail. This is a very interesting trail that goes by at least eight arches. It starts out easy and progresses into a trail going up over "fins" towering 100 or more feet on one side and maybe 30-40 on the other. The wind was howling and that just made the traverse of the fin more interesting and exciting. We ate our lunch on the trail with a small chipmunk keeping a close eye on us from ever changing vantage points. It is a great hike and we were amazed to see so many folks were not properly attired or equipped- no hat, no water, flip-flops for foot wear heading out for what could easily be a four or more mile trek.
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