Introduction

Getting to Moab & Setting Up Camp

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2009

Jeff drove me to the Tulsa airport at 6 am to catch an 8:15 am Southwest flight to Salt Lake City where I was to meet Peter Martinelli, an organic farmer friend of Kim’s and Jess’s who was going with us and who had flown in from California. The flight was a bit bumpy, exacerbated by the woman next to me on the aisle who kept up an almost constant series of moans, shrieks and fearful “what’s that?” questions. The guy across the aisle from her ended up holding her hand and trying to calm her.

I was never so glad to get off a plane! Jess and Kim were already in SLC. They picked up Peter and then me when I called after getting my check-in bag about 11:30 am. We had to rearrange the 4-runner a bit to accommodate my bag.

The 4-runner was stuffed to the ceiling with camping, canoeing, biking, left-over skiing/snow-boarding equipment, and daypacks, as well as Peter’s and my luggage, cartons of wine and bottles of “spirits,” camp chairs, cooking gear, Jess’s computer, etc. Piled on the roof were several plastic bags full of bedding and gear artfully wedged between the two mountain bikes and bungeed down as tightly as possible.

I instantly liked Peter, a big, curly-haired, nonassuming guy who treated Kim and Jess as though they were his sisters and me his mother. All three called me “mom” the entire trip.

The drive from the SLC Airport to Moab, was nerve-racking: The wind was blowing 50 mph with  60 mph gusts, and we had to keep a constant eye on the bikes and gear atop the 4-runner. Every time we heard a bump or groan, I was sure that the load was about to fly away. The webbing straps slapped the roof, and depending on our direction, also sang and whistled. We stopped often to inspect and tighten.

We stopped for lunch at Big Mo’s in Price, UT. A little hole in the wall burger joint with an amiable cook who came out to apologize personally when the electricity suddenly went off (wind blew something onto the lines we decided). Peter, Kim, and Jessica had burgers and I had a turkey sandwich. We probably spent 45 minutes to an hour over lunch because of the wait for electricity.

We arrived in Moab at about 5 pm and immediately headed for Up-the-Creek campground in the center of town where Jess had reserved a site for us. Here we debated throwing over the camping and going to a motel because of the ferocity of the wind, but when we got to UTC, we felt it was sheltered enough to stay. We had to strategically place rocks and wrestle with our tents, nonetheless, but we managed to get set up.

Though UTC was far from a backcountry site—it had a super bathroom with the best shower heads this side of the Mississippi (even a heater in the b.r.), picnic tables, a utility sink, several drinking water pumps, even a couple of propane grills—this was a good place for the shake-down camp before we departed for four more nights in the utter wilderness.

One carted one’s gear to the tent site in little two-wheeled handcarts. We required four carts to get all of our gear to campsite #9. I set up my new MSR Hubba Hubba for the first time outdoors. It is a snap to set up and has good headroom. I discovered two pockets inside that I had overlooked when I set it up in the l.r. at home. I also discovered some loops for hanging a small gear loft or lantern. The two opposing doors came in handy as I positioned the tent so that the wind could whistle through rather than blowing it over.

The little cart we used to lug our things to the campsite

After establishing camp, we walked the main streets of Moab, looking in shops, checking out hotels for our night back off the river before departure, and finding a place to eat. We ended up eating at Miguel’s Baja Grill. Kim and I had huge quesadillas, mine shrimp, of which we could eat only two of the four pieces. We doggie bagged the remaining four for tomorrow’s breakfast. During the meal, Jessica wrote down all of our suggestions for tomorrow’s grocery shopping and we planned the meals we’d have on the River. With caterer Kim on the trip, this will definitely be a gourmet camping experience! Jess also wants to buy some more tent pegs and Peter needs to buy a few gear items also.

Peter, Jessica, and Kim in front of the fountain at one of Moab's two Best Westerns; I was trying to get the La Sal mountains in the background but. . .

Two of the souped up jeeps that participate this weekend in Jeep Safari on old mining roads and over slickrock in the area

Jess in Moab with metal sculptures; this artist has created many, most of which have a cycling theme

Me and Jess in the 4-runner

Some of the toy lizards the campground hostesses had outside their teardrop camper office





Unloading and rearranging gear in the 4-runner; Peter checking out the wine and snack provisions

Arches National Park

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2009

I spent a pretty good night, but it was in the 30s, and I was cold in my sleeping bag. It is not a mummy and has seen us on many camping trips over the last 25–30 years, so I guess it is time for a new one. Since the tent is mostly mesh, it is not really a cold-weather tent, either, but I will be using it in cold weather only at the beginning and end of this summer’s cross-country bike ride. The rest of the time I will be very glad it is mostly mesh.

[That ride is over and reported on another blog: http://www.c2cin2009.blogspot.com so I can tell you that I FROZE in Glacier NP; the tent is under 4 lbs, which is great for cycling, but since it is all mesh, I definitely need a sleeping bag upgrade.]

Jess gave me a little down throw to help me stay warm. I was up at 6. Took a fantastic shower, and then when the others were up and ready, we made a coffee run to Moab’s Daily Grind Espresso place. Kim bought a bag of ground coffee and we all filled our thermoses.

 
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

After drinking our coffee and eating our quesadillas for breakfast, we drove up to Arches National Park, the entrance of which is only 6 miles from Moab. Jess and Kim bought a year’s pass to all national parks for $80. Though it was overcast and cold for the first hour or so, the rocks and scenery were absolutely stunning. The guidebook says: “The park lies atop an underground salt bed that is basically responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and monoliths of this sightseer’s mecca. Water and ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery. It is difficult to imagine the violent forces or the 100-million years of erosion that created this land. The park contains over 2,000 arches that range from a three-foot opening to the longest, Landscape Arch, measuring 306 feet at its base.”

On the way in we saw Sheep Rock and The Three Gossips, enjoyed great views of the snow-topped La Sal Mountains, and saw the Petrified Dunes. We marveled at the alien beauty, stillness and sweeping immensity of it all. We walked up to Turret Arch and took some pix, then took pix of North and South Window and of the Cove of Caves and Double Arch, walked over to Parade of Elephants and on the way out of that loop took pix of Balanced Rock.

The Three Gossips at park entrance

Balancing Rock

Jess before Turret Arch

Jess & Kim before Turret Arch

North Window framing Jess, Kim, and Peter

Dauta and Mutha under North window

North and South windows

Courthouse Tower

Susan under North Window

Unidentified formation before the Great Wall

Cove of Caves

Cove Arch

Park Avenue (Internet photo)



Though the 4-runner was running on empty (literally), we managed to go to Delicate Arch and get some pix from the lower viewpoint. It was an interesting walk up to the viewpoint, sometimes on petrified dunes and sometimes next to giant rocks that looked like petrified wood. Here we also found stunted lupine and Indian paintbrush in bloom and several very spiny cacti.

Northwestern Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja)

La Sal Mountains from viewpoint

Top L clockwise: Wooly Locoweed Milkvetch (Astragalus); Desert Madwort Alyssum; Northwestern Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja); Plains, Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia)



Jess and me walking up the petrified dunes to get a good look at Delicate Arch



Delicate Arch from the petrified dunes

A closer view of Delicate Arch

Hiking up the petrified dunes

Peter with 4-Runner which is running on empty

The ranger at Turret Arch told us to avoid crushing greenish-black, cryptobiotic soil that covers much of the desert. It is composed of cyanobacteria, lichen, algae, and fungi and combats erosion, absorbs moisture, and provides nitrogen and other nutrients for plant growth.  It looks lumpy and grows near the pinyon and gnarled juniper trees.

In camp and during our morning at Arches we also saw black-chinned sparrows, many ravens, a gray jay, a wren, a black-billed magpie, crows, robins (these cheerily woke us in the morning), cedar waxwings, turkey vultures, and several LBBs.

Raven in Delicate Arch parking  lot

Though we all would have liked to spend more time in Arches NP, the gas tank red light was flashing on and off, and we still had to grocery shop, gear shop, and go to Tex’s Riverways—our outfitter—for dry bags, food lockers, and a cooler, all of which we planned to fill that evening. We decided to return to Arches on the 14th after coming off the river.

After coming down and getting gas, we went directly to Gearhead, an outdoor store where we all purchased items that we needed. Peter purchased a new Thermarest (his had given out) and also a Spork like mine and a plate and cup. He had thought that this was a guided tour so needed these implements for meals.

Jess and I then checked out an alternate for our return night hotel, but decided that the roominess of our original white-bread suite at a Best Western, which Jess had reserved earlier, topped the uniqueness of the hotel we were investigating.

While we were doing this, Peter and Kim began the grocery shopping in a supermarket next door to Gearhead. We two joined them, and we probably spent three hours combined in both Gearhead and the supermarket. We bought $233 worth of groceries for our four days on the river. Many of the items we bought were definitely “non-camp” type fare—Kalamata olives, hummus, avocadoes, flank steak, pork chops, ham, pineapple, etc.  We were thinking to do the ham on Easter Sunday, our third day on the River.

Jessica was thrilled to find a gallon of her favorite Frank's Red Hot hot sauce. She didn't buy it, natch, but happily posed for a photo with her super big bottle of Frank's

Grilled pork chops

Believe me, with caterer Kim on hand, we ate gourmet meals--this one Phillipine Pineapple Pork Adobo, Spanish rice, tossed salad with fresh picked Bergamot, Sicilian Red Wine (Nero d'Adola), following an appetiser of Cowgirl cheeses and crackers; there was a big family camped across the way and those who didn't fit in the tent slept outside as you can see

We returned to the campsite for a quick catch-as-catch-can-lunch, and then Jess and I went to Tex’s Riverways outfitters and brought back 4 drybags (one for each of us), one cooler, and one plastic food locker. We four spent the rest of the afternoon sorting and stuffing. What to wear on the River? What to leave in the 4-Runner?

That evening Kim grilled pork chops, and we had—

· Phillipine Pineapple Pork Adobo

· Spanish Rice

· Tossed Salad with Fresh Picked River Bergamot

· Sicilian Red Wine (Nero d’Adola)

· Crackers and Cowgirl cheeses