Day 8 – May 27 Saying Goodbye to Moab

Day 8 – May 27 Saying Goodbye to Moab

Today is my last day in Moab, unless my debit card doesn’t come tomorrow, but I’m planning as if I were certain it will be here, waiting at the Moab post office at 8 a.m.

It was a leisurely start to the day – I lay in my tent till after 8, listening to my neighbors quietly break camp. I got up just as they were leaving, and I saw they left me some bottles of water. Very nice people, and I enjoyed the brief connection we shared. After they left, I had the three –spot area of the campground to myself. I decided the best spot was not the one I was in and was not the one we had been in last year, but the spot that borders the Colorado River and is farthest from the road. So I pulled up stakes (realizing as I did where that saying came from) and moved my tent, all set up, to the other campsite. So I sit here now with my fire just behind me, looking out over the very full and fast-running Colorado.

I decided for a short day of hiking – I’m still building my conditioning, and I’ve hiked 25 miles in the last four days, climbing over rocks and slipping across, down and over slickrock, really getting intimate with the landscape of the area. It’s been lovely, but I was ready for an easy day. My friend Heidi, who spent some time in the area, suggested I check out the short but good hike to Corona Arch. I looked up the information on how to get to it, and started that direction.

It was a beautiful morning, as every morning has been, and I enjoyed the drive to the trailhead. It was a short hike – only about 3 miles roundtrip – but it did have a few areas of interest with cables installed in two places, horizontally in one and vertically in another, to assist hikers and a ladder installed in another spot. It was a busy hike, and there were many people hiking and enjoying the arch. But it was still beautiful. I took some lovely shots looking up where the orange of the arch is framed with the deep blue of the southern Utah sky. 

This arch is well-known. It’s one of the largest arches not in the actual Arches National Park. It gained some notoriety last year when a climber was killed on it. There have been videos circulating of climbers swinging to and fro under the arch, calling it the largest rope swing in the world. A climber tried it last year and miscalculated the length of his rope, hitting the ground and killing himself. There were discussions, I understand, deciding whether to forbid the activity, but in keeping with these wild lands out here, no restrictions were posted. The authorities did pull out the anchor at the top of the arch, but ambitious climbers can still rig it themselves.

I sat for quite a while in the shade of the arch, enjoying its immense beauty. The air here is so comfortable. It was in the 90s in the sun, but in the shade it was cool and comfortable. There were maybe 2 other groups of people at the same time, but the area is so expansive, it didn’t feel crowded. It has to be one of my favorite places I’ve sat and enjoyed while I’ve been down here.

Because it was such a short hike, I decided to drive through Arches one last time. I hadn’t driven through the park this trip, and I knew I had to do it while I was here. Its beauty and stunning rock formations knocked me over once again. I can’t drive through there without thinking of Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, and his desire to keep the park inaccessible to anyone unless they were on foot, on horseback, or cycling. They were staking out the highway I drove on while he was a ranger there, and he more than once, pulled out the stakes in a futile attempt to halt the development of the park.  He was a curmudgeon, but his wild spirit is strong at the park, and I always imagine his old beat up pickup pulling up to his little trailer house when I’m there.  If you’ve not read the book and love this part of the world, I highly recommend it.

I was back in Moab early afternoon. I showered (man, do I look forward to those showers I buy for three bucks at the Lazy Lizard Hostel) and did laundry. Then, enjoying one last Gelato at my favorite coffee shop, I studied the map and determined a loose plan for the next week. I think I’ll head to Zion tomorrow morning, then swing back up in the days that follow through Bryce and Grand Staircase/Escalante, ending up on Sunday at Capitol Reef where I meet Helen, a woman from Florida I’ll be backpacking with the following week.

But tonight, I’m enjoying the sound of the Colorado River, enjoying the smell of my campfire, and enjoying the feel of the air on my bare arms and legs. What a way to say goodbye to Moab.