Dear Annalise,
Oh my goodness today has been such a crazy day! You could probably classify Aidan and I
as certifiable insane. But we now
have multiple adventures to recall and are still standing! The day began just outside of
Canyonlands National Park where we camped amid a raging thunderstorm. Thankfully the clouds parted briefly in
the morning for us to take down camp, and provided some stunning views.
 |
| A bright morning after the storm |
 |
| The tent made it through, and (somehow) kept us dry! |
 |
| Smiling in the sunshine :) |
After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and bananas we drove into
the part and went on a cute little 2.4 mile hike that brought us to some scenic
bluffs overlooking the canyon.
 |
| Driving into the park, the clouds started building again |
 |
| Looking out across the canyons |
 |
The desert biological soil complex! This soil crust is formed
by microorganisms, and creates a thin surface of soil particles
and organic materials that help to prevent erosion, absorb and
hold water, and provide nutrients to desert plants. |
 |
| The recent storms brought water for flowers to bloom |
While we were walking it started to rain again (I know… this
is supposed to be the desert). We
proceeded for awhile and then the thunder and lightening started back up again.
 |
| Taking shelter from the rain |
 |
| The weather is looking more and more ominous... |
 |
All of the water pouring from the sky created waterfalls into
the canyons from all sides. So cool! |
Those storms scare me just a bit… It was a really fun hike, but it had my blood pumping that
is for sure. We made it safely
back to the car but by now we were soaking wet. On our drive out of the park we stopped at the visitor
center to change and barely made it into the bathrooms before a bus full of
Asians unloaded and flooded the place. After changing into warm clothes, we made one last stop at
Newspaper Rock, an area of rock covered in desert varnish and covered in
petroglyphs from multiple centuries, on our way out.
 |
| I am woman, hear me roar! |
 |
| I am man. Hear me grunt. |
From there we drive to Arches National Park. It was still raining pretty good…
(desert?) Our plan was to backpack
into the park and spend the night in the backcountry. When we approached the ranger for a backcountry permit she
told us that “absolutely under no circumstance would she ever recommend
backpacking tonight.” Yes
ma’am! Apparently there was a
flash flood warning in effect and two groups of campers were currently stranded
from the night before. She
suggested an alternative campground down the river and sent us on our way.
As casual tourists of the part (and quite cold and wet –
despite being in the DESERT) we were a little reluctant to go on any
significant hikes. We decided to
tour the North and South Windows.
 |
| An arch! |
 |
| Water pouring down the normally dry sandstone cliffs |
 |
| Arches National Park! |
 |
| Balance Rock |
 |
| South Window |
 |
| Aidan's "I'm cold" dance |
 |
| Looking up at the arch (and praying it doesn't collapse) |
 |
| North Window |
 |
| "Embrace the rain!" |
 |
| The sun starts to poke through! |
After the warm up we continued on to Double Arch, and then to Devil’s
Garden. Eventually the rain did
let up and it turned into a spectacular day!
 |
| Double Arch! Which is more like a triple arch if you ask me... |
 |
| Aidan climbing up rocks |
 |
Driving to Devil's Garden. We wanted to see Delicate Arch
but the road had been washed out the night before! |
 |
| Entering Devil's Garden |
 |
| The sun lit up the landscape! |
 |
| Aidan holding up Landscape Arch |
 |
| Such a beautiful day! |
 |
| Jumping for joy in God's glorious creation! |
Being the responsible people that we are, Aidan and I left
the fun promptly at 5:00pm so that we could find a campsite and set up camp by
6:00. We drove to the recommended
camping area, only to find that every single site in the 7 or so campgrounds
were taken. We have come to
seriously despise RVs… We made
friends with two girls (Rachel and friend) who were also looking for a spot and
decided to share if we came across anything.
Aidan and I had a not-so-useful map that alluded to a
campground called Sand Flats. We
eventually found a road with that name, and followed it up to a plateau that
was a popular mountain biking and off-roading destination. And guess what! There were campsites available! I can’t begin to describe our
relief. The second night in a row
without a definitive camp before 8:00pm can make things stressful… We quickly set up camp (by now it had
stopped raining. Yay!) and ate
dinner real quick. The high winds
and open exposure made for a cold night, and we were thankful to finally be
able to jump in the tent.
 |
| Dinner! |
I hope you are enjoying the start of your semester in
Boston! I am taking lots of
pictures for you, I hope that despite the amateur status you approve. Oh fun fact: Aidan has practically engineered how to pack the trunk of
the car. Everything has a rather
particular place and it all fits in there quite nicely, though snug. I guess just another reason I should be
thankful I am dating an engineer!
Miss you!
Your friend,
Emily
No comments:
Post a Comment