Moab adventures

So it's been about a week since I visited Moab, but time to catch up. I had four days off, which really translates to three days with travel, but I managed to jump from the Ephraim area to Moab area. I was still pretty tired after a full night's rest in a hotel, so when I made it to Arches in the afternoon I did more driving than hiking.

     I've been here before, because I remember taking pictures of some of the landmarks. But unlike Kirk and the Enterprise I don't always have to keep boldly going to brand-new places. Saw lots of col fins, petrified dunes, and (of course) arches. I ended up puttering around the Windows, walked up to the North Window and the Turret Arch. Turret Arch is definitely my favorite, mainly because to me it looks like the entrance to a Hutt Palace or some sort of hole-in-the-wall hideout from a Zane Grey.

Three Sisters at Arches

Turret Arch at Arches

North Window with a troop of people

After Arches I camped out on BLM land north of Canyonlands' Island in the Sky entrance. Island in the Sky is the most accessible of the Canyonlands' three districts, so there were people but not really a crowd like at Zion or Bryce Canyon. Again took it easy and focused more on the scenic drives and overlooks, absorbing the sprawling views and that eerie sense of depth that never really makes it through the pictures. Saw the Mesa Arch and enjoyed a breakfast of graham crackers at Grand View point. Packed it in after the afternoon got scorching and had the near mythical salad for lunch in Moab.

Two tailed side-blotched lizard near a Canyonlands overlook

Near the Mesa Arch overlook

Buck Canyon at Canyonlands

     In the evening I meandered down south and took another hotel in Monticello, setting up to trek into the Needles district the next morning. Didn't realize until I got down there that there's actually another National Monument down there, Bear's Ears, which was only created during the Obama administration. A park with already a weird and tangled history, it's new enough not to have any visitor center or facilities. So I ended up skipping it for now, and hopefully it'll survive current policies.
     Anyway, next day I took a leisurely morning drive into Canyonlands' Needles. It's a curious area that focuses less on the wide view and more on the up-close-and-personal view to the formations. I did way more hiking, saw an old granary at Roadside Ruin, skirted under mushroom rocks and an abandoned cowboy camp at Cave Spring, and clomped around the slickrock hills around Pothole Point. After picnicking back near Elephant Hill, I drove back to check out Newspaper Rock, a fascinating and detailed example of rock art.

Needles of Canyonlands, near Elephant Hill

Newspaper Rock

     So those are my park forays. Afterwards I was able to get in contact with the other techs and hold a rare, blue moon of an event. With all of us roving around it's almost impossible for all of us to be close enough and off work to meet up, and this time we actually managed it for half a day. It's kind of nice to be able to talk and get drinks and hang out with humans again after a couple of months of semi-isolation. We picked a helluva mosquito-ridden camping spot, but the rest was pretty good.

     Now I'm off again for a day and an office day, just enough for a shower and a soft bed. After this, I've got six transects to go. The end draws near...