Moab: Adventure Capital of the Southwest

They were not joking when they gave Moab this tagline. No end of activities... yesterday morning I ran the first section of the Moab Red Hot 50K+ starting at Gemini Bridges trailhead - it was just as beautiful as I remembered from last year, and this morning we chose to start the day with a few hours rock climbing! It was a lot of fun... check out the wall - how could this not be fun?

Our guide Chris was excellent (very low key guy but a bit of a legend in the rock climbing world) and it was just Teresa and I so we had loads of time on the wall. We started off with a 5.7 climb and the next 4 included a 5.9 and 5.10, one of them involving crack climbing which I'd never done before. Not that we actually used any crack techniques but there was a bit of wedging between walls...! Teresa did excellent - time well spent out at Dalkey quarry with the climbing club. I didn't make it to the top of the 5.10 - my feet were pretty sore by that stage so I had to give in after about 10 minutes. This is me before giving in :) ...

And if I ever get to master rock climbing I'll try bouldering next - yes, people 'climb' these... some routes involve circling the boulder - I can't imagine the mess one's fingers would be in after that journey!

After our exertions on the wall we picked up some lunch and had a picnic along the Colorado River just north of town. And then a dip in the ~60F water. It felt so good given the heat of the day. We've had temps well in the 90's most days - real summer weather at last!

Yesterday afternoon we toured around Arches NP and this evening we headed up to Canyonlands NP. I'd been to Arches last year but Canyonlands was all new. And equally spectacular. Difficult to know what direction to look in - everything is worth taking in! Mesa Arch was definitely one of the highlights...

Next time I come here I want to run this trail! It curves right around the edge of the canyon several hundred feet above the base. The only problem is the views across the valley are so beautiful I may have difficulty staying on trail. Steve mentioned in his Sawtooth predictions that I have a tendancy to fall when tired. It's not even when I'm tired - I just like to take in the views (and have a tendancy to daydream) and forget that I need to focus more on where my feet should be!

Sunset at "Island in The Sky" was glorious...



And after dark we chilled out for a while in this serene setting. It was so peaceful lying on the rock looking up at the stars. In contrast, sitting on the edge peering down into nothingness was a little unnerving...

And then on the drive back we were treated to a lightening show. It was pretty amazing, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. Tried to capture it on video with my camera...



end of post.