Westwood Guesthouse Moab

... are scarry enough without having something else trailing us.

We are starting to get into the flat lands with the mountains and buttes in the distance. I am not sure why we are attacted to this area but this will be our third dtrip. The mountains are not lush and green but stark like the picture of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We will be here for 3 or 4 days then on to Colorado, Missouri and Tennessee.

... The son was setting rapidly, and it was getting dark. I
hope everything ended well.



We
went back to the hotel and started packing up for the trip to St
George tomorrow. I can't wait to get to St George, but I do like
Moab. I'm sure we'll be back one day again; Ioan would enjoy the
climbing and canyoneering here, and we all love Arches National Park.
One day.............just maybe not in the summer, it's just too hot!

... three, and I’m over the edge basically walking my way down the wall. 90 feet later, my hand is burning and my feet land in a two-foot “puddle” of water. A short walk, and another rappel, but this one is 120 feet, with no rock ledge to push off (I’m literally hanging completely free in midair). Oh, and this one is just anchored to a juniper bush. Overall, the whole experience was a good mix of exhilaration and terror—in other words, nearly perfect.

... then decided since we had the rental car we should use it! We decided on a ride up Oak Creek Canyon, sort of a ritual since we have been coming here. Stopped near the top to walk around where the scenery is great and the place is full of Indians selling jewelry. On to the top and turned onto I-17 heading back down the mountain. We started a few caches and just after Munds Park we turned onto Schnebley Road-another ritual, we enjoyed the dirt and rough, in some places, trip down the ...

... were totally obsessed with taking pictures of cactus flowers, and Silas was a very good sport about it. I couldn't even tell you how many pictures of flowers I ended up with!
That evening we barbequed- pesto burgers for Silas and I, and Boca burgers for Madeline. And I have to add something about the Boca burgers here... I am always teasing Silas about his aversion to foods that are advertised as being, 'healthy, vegetarian, and organic ...

... the two hour ride back up the Colorado and 20 minute bus ride back into Moab. Our selected river trip took us through Labryinth and Stillwater Canyons, Canyonlands National Park and 300 million years of geologic time. The strange, soaring rock formations, deep canyons, washes, mulititude of tiny fossils found underfoot and of course, solitude, were surreal. On the first day, we were fortunate to meet up with ...

... many of them migrated to other areas to escape a 20-year drought. More photos of Mesa Verde: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benkunz/se ts/72157617487997468/ Before leaving the Creek, we took a couple hours to drive through Canyonlands National Park. The Needles in Canyonlands More pictures in Canyonlands: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benkunz ...

... then 30 mins later we arrived at Double O - its called this because it has 2 arches - a big O on top and a little O underneath. We climbed through the little one to the other side and stopped for a snack of some nuts. The squirrels were very interested in us! They were cute but skittish and came very close - almost close enough to touch. After a 20 min break we cruised back down and stopped to see Navajo and Partition Arches - a quick deviation off the ...

... and disk brakes, beating the Kona back in Jasper! They glided down the slickrock and were highly responsive. My first ride on a full suspension was great making me re evaluate my opinions that hardtails are the best option.We checked out some dinosaur footprints at a section on the slick rock, cool! Henrich had a double blow out at speed, so we chilled for a while Tim fixed the punctures. We then headed back to the bus over the last of the slick rock and then ...

... the more strenuous hike to Landscape arch, one that everyone should make a priority to see, particularly as its likely to cave in anytime now given its structural instability. The arch is approximately 290 feet long and the thinnest section is only 6 feet. It used to be that you could hike under the arch, but the danger of falling rock is very high so now you can only observe from a safe distance. The hike is in an area called the ...