Friday, March 20, 2009

Moab, Utah

I was wrong about the last time I went camping.  Dale and I ended up going to the college we looked at, and during spring break we went with some college friends to . . . Canyonlands in . . . Moab, Utah!  Isn't that an incredible irony?!  The last time I went camping was in Moab, Utah and forty years later, the first time I go camping is in Moab, Utah!  Awesome coincidence!

We pulled off the main highway onto a dirt road that got more and more 4-wheelish as we went.  Luckily, Rosemary's car had 4 wheel drive!  We drove quite awhile before coming to the very remote campsite in the Klondike Bluffs area of the park.  No facilities.  The most we had was a shared firepit.

Rosemary and I started putting up the tent.  Her husband had given her a five minute lesson on how to set it up.  As we struggled, Eric came over to help.  Luckily!  With Eric's help, we got the tent set up in no time.  Then, we all ate lunch and started off on the first day's hike.

It was a hot day, and when we got to an area of deep sand, I knew I was in trouble.  Slogging through that deep sand makes it that much more difficult.  I tried to stay near the front of the group (I think there were twelve of us), because I knew I'd be at the very end of the pack coming back, and I didn't want to seem like a total wimp!

At some point during the first portion of the hike, I am about fourth in line. The leader and the first two people climb over this steep, scary spot . . . too scary for me.  So, I find a way around the scary spot and end up crawling through this hole in a rock, but come out past the steep, scary spot.  I thought I'd be the only one wimping out like that . . . but everybody else followed me!  How cool is that!?

After what seemed like a long walk, we come to the bottom of a large outcropping that we have to climb.  I had to rest numerous times, but only a couple people pass me.  I'm not the only one who's tired!  Somehow I manage to stumble to the top, and thankfully, we have a rest and snack stop there.  My face was so red at this point, that one woman thought I was getting heat stroke.  My sweat was drying, and the wind was blowing a little up on top there, and when I told her I was chilled, she really thought that.  I don't know why my face gets that red, but I assured her that I was fine.  I wasn't really sure that I was fine, but after I assured her, both of us felt better!

I can't remember the order of things, but I think next we came to Tower Arch.  It was cool.  Then on our way back, we have to go through "Chap's crack" . . . a crack between two vertical sheets of rock.  We all made it through fine, with no casualties!  After we finished going through there, we realized what an memorable experience it was!!

We finally got back to camp, none the worse for wear.  And to end the day, here is a funny, but embarrassing story.  There were no "facilities" at this camping area, so before bedtime, I ventured out away from the camp to use the open air bathroom.  I had my trusty no-battery (to prepare for the poleshift) flashlight with me.  This flashlight is cool because it also has a compass, a radio, and an alarm on it.  The way that it gets power is by winding it up.  I turned off the flashlight when I got where I was going, so as not to draw attention to myself and my business out there.   Unfortunately, when I went to turn it back on, I accidentally hit the alarm button.  Since I've never had any use for the alarm before, I didn't know where the button was to turn it off!  It quickly used up all the available "juice" the flashlight had.  But, everytime I wound it up to get light, the alarm would start going again!  I had to wind it to get a second of light so I wouldn't trip on a bush or anything, and then take several steps in the dark.  It took me awhile to get back to the tent that way!

When I got back to the tent, I shut off the alarm by the light of the lantern in the tent, and I proceeded to wind it up.  When you wind it, it makes kind of a loud whiny sound.  Rosemary looks at me and says, "You're not going to be doing that in the middle of the night, are you?"  Point taken!