Moab, UT

Let's get this out of the way early: Moab is incredibly hot. The thermometers were bulging at a whopping 94 degrees by the time I rolled into town at 6 PM and it never really cooled down until long after sunset. That being said, the burnt orange and red tones of Moab's sandstone created by far some of the most beautiful natural scenes to which I have ever been witness. It would seem that the government was much more interested in the large deposits of uranium that slumbered underneath Moab's sandstone because it destroyed quite a large section of the rock formations to gain access to the delicious yellow cake. The department of energy still has a large active operation with heavy machinery digging for treasure around the clock.

Can you find me?
It's pretty hard since I blend in so well with the background.

On my first morning, I slept in to recover from the previous late nights, but managed to be packed up and ready to hike by 10 AM. Wanting to fit in with the local scenerey, I wore my bright orange SF Giants jersey and maroon Exeter athletic shorts. I spoke with an employee at the Moab visitor's center who, in her glacial 20 words-per-minute cadence, managed to show me two trails that provided access to both  red rock arches, bridges ans canyons. She warned me to bring copious amounts of water because the heat could quickly wilt most travelers. Pffft I'm 23, I'll be fine.

The view from inside the hole/cave

A short drive later, I pressed up the trailhead for the corona arch. I immediately began pouring sweat, but thought nothing of it. On the trail, I met several groups of people all heading back towards their cars who wished me good luck. I even ran into a fellow Wesleyan grad for whom I had been an RA my sophomore year. Halfway up the trail, I saw a gigantic hole in the rock wall about 30 feet in diameter where it seemed some giant had decided to take an ice cream scoop out of the rock. For some uknown reason it called out to me, and I just had to climb up into it. The cave offered a great vantage point from which I could see the entire canyon landscape. I stopped in its shade for a quick hikers lunch. During my break I was lucky enough to see a goat-like desert deer skip across the rocks below.

Corona Arch

By the time I finished lunch, I noticed my water supply was already 3/4 gone. I guess old molasses lips at the visitor center was right. I continued my hike towards the arch, stopping every 60 feet to take pictures and finally laid down in its shade to escape the blazing sun. Two thousand shutter clicks later I swiftly returned to Roy and escaped back to my hostel for an afternoon siesta and some much needed hydration.

Repelling down the rock face

Once the landscape had cool down around six, I loaded up with extra water and hiked a trail called

(no joke) Negro Bill's Canyon. It ended in a sandstone cul-de-sac with a beautiful natural bridge. As I approached it, I made out the silhouette of a teenager repelling down the side of one of the massive rock walls. He turned out to be part of a group of professional guide led rock climbers tactically making their way through the greater Moab trails. The sun began to set and I scurried back to Roy before the darkness completely impeded my ability to follow the trail.

The deceptively difficulty EZ trail

At the hostel, one of my roommates told me about his day of mountain biking and informed me that I had to hit the trails before I left. Apparently Moab is one of the best places in all of the U.S. for mountain biking and the major mountain bike manufacturers often test their prototypes on it's rust colored dunes. At the local bike shop I finagled my way into a half day bike rental complete with helmet and car rack. I also stocked up on additional water because they warned me that heat and heavy activity of mountain biking dehydrated even the most accomplished bikers in no time at all. I started on the easiest trail per the bike shop staff's recommendation which turned out to be a flat path with the occasional rock. It took me to an advanced trail for which I brashly made a detour craving a more challenging adventure. The Circle O trail strategically zig zagged across slick rocks formations with sudden drops, steep inclines and aggressive turns. Now this was more like it! It proved to be a good foray into more advanced mountain biking because its open terrain forgave my wider, inexperienced turns. The bike shop had also recommended two trails called EZ and Lazy which I rode next. I found the trail names to be misnomers because the narrower single track curves led to my ejection from the bike three separate times. Luckily, each time I managed to continue running over the handlebars without falling to the ground. Good thing I bought insurance on the bike! Sweaty, battered and exhausted I limped back to Roy and returned my bike just before the 1PM deadline. It was too late to return to the hostel for a shower so I pressed on to Denver, my next destination, marinating in my own juices. Yum.