Thanksgiving in Moab - The Hiking

Despite the fact that we were up playing games and giggling until very late the night before, all four of us managed to get up bright and early on Thursday. We loaded all of our food in the "boot" of the car and set off for Arches National Park. It was chilly and cloudy, but Greg optimistically noted that "the clouds look like they're going to burn off!" We bundled up against the cold and started off towards our first arch. Before the arch, we went to a scenic overview and I yelled out loud to hear my own echo and then joked that we should sing a song. I forgot that I was there with a bunch of cheesy, music-loving Mormons and they took me seriously. After some feeble protests on my part, we began to sing a hymn. When we began, there were some people approaching and we gained confidence and sang out enthusiastically in 4-part harmony. When we finished, the people were nowhere to be found. I guess they didn't appreciate our "special moment."

We spent the morning walking around Balanced Rock, the North and South Windows, and other amazing rock formations.







I was amazed by all the wonders of nature we were seeing, and at one point I was standing off on my own, just taking it all in (or trying to) and feeling in awe of my surroundings. I glanced around after a few moments, and what did I see but Robbie laying down taking a mini-nap. I don't know why, but that totally cracked me up.


Just as we decided to go see the grandaddy of all arches, Delicate Arch, Greg's optimistic prediction proved to be very false and the heavens opened. I listened to every song about rain on my i-pod so I couldn't hear the sound of my loud breathing (high altitude + fatness = trouble getting oxygen while hiking). The trail led to the side of a stone mountain that we scaled like goats. My friends went ahead at my insistence, and I passed a man coming down who said he was giving up because "this was supposed to be an easy-ass hike, but I'm turning the hell around and I'll just look at the thing on the internet." I'll admit, I was slightly tempted to follow his example, but I pressed on and luckily for me (sadly for that man) the hard part of the hike soon ended. The walk to the arch was wet and cold and oxygen-lite, but the cliffs and rocks were actually really beautiful in the rain.







The Delicate Arch was seriously so wonderful! It looked all glisten-y and smooth in the rain. There were other hikers there with us, including a group of Indian guys. We had a long conversation with them under the arch and made friends with them, although the kind of friends where I can't pronounce or remember their names. But still, we laughed together and shared our travelling tales and mini-life stories and also they wanted pictures of/with us...so even though I'll never see them again, (and even if I did I wouldn't know what to call them), we're still friends.





My favorite part of the "Delicate Arch" pictures is that if you look closely at the picture of Robbie and I, you can see a little figure under the arch shaped like an X. That X is Greg, and we accidentally captured his moment of unadulterated JOY at being there. Fun, right?

We were soaked completely through our clothes after the arch, so we decided to call it a day and headed back to the car. It was way too wet out to start a campfire for our Turkey dinners, so we decided to wait and see if the rain cleared that night. Instead, we went to Denny's for Thanksgiving lunch! It was surprisingly crowded, and while we were eating our Indian friends walked through the doors and were seated right across from our booth. I was so happy to see them again, but not enough to acknowledge them. I guess we're not the type of friends who like, smile or talk to each other.

Whew, who knew 3 days could give me so much to talk about? And I'm only giving the bare details! Sorry if you're a little bored, but it's good for me to write this stuff down while it's fresh so I can remember it better later. Stick with me though, because next time I'll be writing about the best parts of the trip...DINNER, HOBOS, and DRUGS!!