I sure was. :)
I still love Moab, rain or shine.
I rode down with my cousin Sam and her boyfriend, Brandon. We began to get annoyed with all of the stops that the rest of our family was making, but we got over it. The ride consisted of loud music and scenic views, which is just the way I like it. It was raining almost the whole time, right up until we passed the sign labeled "Moab". We thought our luck was good, and we would have a nice and sunny weekend. This was only partly true.
On the first night we went and checked out the Arts Festival. There were tons of neat little handicrafts and such. There were also quite a few photography booths, in which I spent most of my time awing at. When we decided we were done, we got back in the car and began to drive home. Not a minute on the road and the roads were almost flooded. We knew about the flash flood warnings and just thought how lucky we were that it started raining almost at the same time we got in the car.
Brandon decided to practice some harmonica- it fit the mood. :P
When we got home, my cousins Drew, Michael, and I went and explored the back of our cabin. We found some deer tracks and witnessed an amazing sunset.
My favorite part is how the sun outlines the cloud at the top.
This place became my little heaven over the next few days. I went out there probably three or four times a day, if not more. In the mornings and at dusk, just hoping to get a single glimpse at some of the wildlife. On an early morning, the beautiful wilderness inspired me to write. I wrote a poem.
I follow the tracks of my mythical ancestor
to the place that has become so familiar to me.
And as I wait for the slightest sign of his arrival;
I listen.
I smell.
I watch.
I hear birds calling to their mates,
providing the soundtrack to my evening.
Caws, tweets, yells.
Each is ever so distinct.
I smell wilderness.
The aromas of flowers, bushes, and trees.
All of these things surrounding me,
engulfing me in their irreplaceable scent.
I watch ants crawl across the surface of the rain-beaten sand.
I watch the relatives of my ancestor dart across the clearing.
I watch the formation of a heaven-sent sunset,
the sun's rays barely escaping through the thick clouds.
Ever so patiently,
I wait.
As I sit, I yearn to be apart of this world.
So peacefully placed.
Without a care in sight,
except for the life-long challenge of survival.
I wonder if this is what my ancestor feels.
He is terrified of me, while I only want a glimpse of him.
He has the right to be afraid.
People of my kind have hunted him,
destroyed his home.
We have brought down our evils on this innocent world.
We have no respect, no compassion, no sorrow.
No patience for this primitive wilderness.
A snap of a twig-I look up.
I am suddenly looking into the eyes of my ancestor.
We are both afraid.
He is afraid
of me, while I am afraid
for him.
A gunshot is fired.
My ancestor falls.
Lightning shoots across the sky,
the sound of deafening thunder fills my ears.
The wind reaches unimaginable speeds,
sand tears at my skin.
I shut my eyes and cover my head.
With frustration, sadness, and understanding,
I listen.
I feel fear swell through my body.
Mother Nature is angry.
Angry that man has taken claim to her world.
The next day I wrote another poem, which I will post soon.
On our second day in Moab, we first went to see some petroglyphs. The small hike was crawling with lizards, it was hard not to step on them.
My cousin Michael was so determined to catch one. I kept begging him over and over not to, because I hate seeing animals in stress. He didn't get his hands on one the whole trip! I'm not sure if this was due to my warnings or sheer bad luck.
When we reached the petroglyphs, Michael and Drew were a bit daring and climbed pretty far up the rock. They found a really interesting horse petroglyph.
I climbed up to take a look at it and snap a couple pictures. Uncle Mike appearently wanted to give everyone a heart attack, so he also made the climb.
The Fam got a pretty big kick out of these pics.
"The Big Man on his throne."
The petroglyphs near the bottom were also pretty neat.
It makes you wonder what all of it means...
After the pertoglyphs, we drove down to the Arches National Park information center. We really wanted to do the Fiery Furnace hike but we knew we needed a tour guide because it was dangerous. We found out that all of the guided hikes were full. We were pretty bummed. So Sam, Brandon, and I went and drove up to the Devil's Garden Hike. It's a 7 mile hike (if you do it right :P). We took the hike and saw the Broken Wall Arch, the Landscape Arch, and the Double O Arch. We took many pictures along the way.
The newly-broken Wall Arch
The Landscape Arch- Sam and I.
This took some bravery...
The Double O Arch.
Me in the "Little O" with the "Big O" overhead.
Sam and Brandon got pretty daring and found their way to the top of the Big O. Sam was pretty freaked out at first and she almost didn't go. Next thing she knew she was on top of a named Arch, with some pretty sweet picture to show off.
Brandon was extra-daring and climbed all the way up to the cliff right past the Big O.. Sam and I were kinda freaked out :P. Finally he got some sense when the wind started kicking in, and he began to climb back down.
Sam and I by the Double O.
We figured out that we took the wrong trail up, and we were going backwards. By the time we left the Double O, we could see some pretty nasty clouds moving on in. We started to get kinda freaked out, because of the previous flash-flood warnings. We didn't want to get stuck in the dangerous canyon when it was raining. We began booking it down the desert mountain, trying to get back to the car before the rain hit. We felt harmless drips, but we knew that the monstrous rains were not far away. A mile away and the winds begin to hit. It was fierce, blinding us with sand and stinging our skin. We picked up the pace and broke into a run. We got to the car and BAM, the rains hit. We lucked out once again, for the second day in a row.
On day three, I visited my special place in the wilderness once again. I spent about an hour and a half out there in the morning and wrote another poem. I loved this place, it was so amazing. All you could hear were the chirps of the birds, and all you could smell were the various bushes and trees surrounded you. I saw a few wild bunnies as well. I also found more deer tracks.
My cousin Michael had been begging since the day we stepped foot in Moab to go to Left Hand. Left Hand is a water-hole that can't be found on any map. Locals are the only people who know it exists. We learned about it from a friend of my Mom's in the previous years in which we visited Moab. Since then, we've showed Left Hand to many friends and relatives who have came along with us on our Moab trips.
I love Left Hand for many reasons. It's beautiful, for one. The view from the top of Left Hand is also beautiful. Red rock cliffs surround it on both sides. There are two cliffs that you can jump off of into the water, one is about half the size of the other. On the top of Left Hand there is an additional wading pool that feeds into the waterfall, and farther up there is yet another peaceful, smaller, water hole. There are only two ways to get to the top of Left Hand. If you backtrack a little from Left Hand, you come to an inconspicuous fork in the trail. The road you want to take to get to the top starts with an incline of slickrock. The other way to get to the top is to swim over to the waterfall and climb up. The hike to Left Hand is short and sweet, with some petroglyphs in view along the way.
Sam pointed out that this looked like a UFO. We pondered and laughed at the crazy thought.. You be the judge! Isn't it kind of weird?
Richard, my step-dad, jumping off the cliff at Left Hand.
I love the feeling of jumping off this cliff. I'm always so terrified to begin with, and it takes me a few minuted to gather up the courage to jump. My legs go numb as I step off the edge. Before I know it, I'm submerged in freezing cold water and seconds later I resurface. It's so thrilling and risky. The water is shallow and murky, which is the scary part!
Another thing I like about Left Hand is that dogs are allowed there. This pup was especially cute. His name was Marley. He wanted to jump off the little cliff so bad, it was hilarious! He kept barking at the water and you could tell how badly he wanted it. I learned from his owners that last year he slipped down the waterfall by accident.
A shot of Aunt Kim from the top of Left Hand.
A cool little tunnel on the top of Left Hand.
Reflection on the water- view from the top.
Sam had a fun idea to try and "chute" down the tight river in the second water hole on the top of left hand.
I also tried this and I shot down the river into the wading pool on the top of Left Hand. Everyone clapped when I arrived and someone yelled "Nice entrance!". They wanted me to go down the waterfall! :P
I love this saying- on the way to Left Hand. I get a picture by it every year.
On the hike up Brandon noticed a cave up a ways and to the left of us. On the way back we decided to go and check it out. At first it looked like it was filled with petroglyphs, but when we got closer we found that it was all initials of previous visitors.
We wanted to keep the tradition going- so we added ours as well.
For the third day in a row, right when we got back to the car (even after all of the detours) the rain hit, once again. We were pretty much speechless, we didn't know what to say. It was too weird!
On the fourth day at Moab, we all packed up and threw our stuff into the cars. Sam and Brandon were going back to Left Hand, so I decided to stick around and hang out with them. We had some complications and couldn't stay as long as we had planned, so we only went half-way to a little shore by the river.
I got a phone call from my mom asking if I wanted to go four wheeling. We headed back into town and met my mom at the Jeep rental store. She informed me that they couldn't get the Jeep, and that we were just going to go home. I rode with my mom home, and I have to say I was pretty bummed to be leaving. It's never long enough whenever we go to Moab, and I wish I could go there every weekend. Hopefully I didn't bug my cousin too much so maybe the next time she comes down I can tag along :).
And here concludes my second trip to Moab in two weeks. I love that place! I will be posting my second poem and lots of news pictures, so make sure to keep checking back!
