Moab (Climbing, Canyonlands, & Arches) June 21-24, 2018
This weekends adventure was longer than my usual, stretching from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon. We covered a good amount of ground and had an amazing time.
Thursday evening we met up and loaded up my little VW Jetta, roof rack and all, and took off. We drove past sundown and arrived at our planned campsite around 10:30pm. We camped about 9 miles up UT 313 down the Lone Mesa Group Campground road on the BLM land.
Woke up Friday morning, ate breakfast, packed up, and headed to our first destination.... my favorite climb in Moab. The Spear of Destiny (5.9) up UT 128. The Spear of Destiny is a good sized flake of red rock that sheared off the canyon wall, fell straight down, and embedded into the slope next to the cliff. The whole climb is 90 feet or so of stemming. The width of the stemming ranges from 2 feet up to maybe 4 feet at certain points and makes for a spectacular, adrenaline filled climb. At the top of the climb, the views are spectacular and standing on the top of the pinnacle is exhilarating.
We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the Colorado River and keeping out of the heat. The hottest part of the day was nearing 100!
Camped in the same location Friday night, Saturday was spent exploring Canyonlands NP since one of the girls that came had never been to Moab at all. My favorite part of Saturday was waking up at 5am and driving to Mesa Arch for some morning photography. The morning was crystal clear but I was dismayed when I arrived at Mesa arch (it was still pitch black) only to find the arch crammed with photographers. The majority was an Asian tour bus I had seen in the parking lot but though nothing of. I squeezed into the lineup with some disapproving looks from other photographers, most of whom had cameras thousands of dollars more expensive than mine (I shoot with a little Canon Rebel, but it is perfect for everything I do). The sun eventually came up and all you could hear was the snapping of shutters, photographers busy at work. Right in the middle of the sunburst streaming through the arch, I stopped and just admired the beauty. It was surreal. All the other photographers glued to their cameras, not really enjoying the natural beauty. Only focused on getting the shot then editing the photos and really seeing the sunrise from behind their lens or monitor later. Although photography is a great way to capture the beauty of the earth, there is nothing that compares to actually being there. Minutes later, everyone started clearing out of the area. I took my time and snapped a few more shots. That is where I got this beauty of a shot. It is nothing in comparison to the amazing shots more experience photographers with more expensive cameras get, but I love it because it is something I took on my little Canon Rebel.
Sunday, we explored Arches NP. We just did some of the iconic hikes. The park was slammed with tourists. I remember as a kid when weekends at the park were fairly pleasant and no where near as busy. Delicate arch was a zoo. It was mid day but I had hauled my camera along anyways. The rim of the bowl in front of the arch was lined with hikers and there was a line for people to go stand under the arch and get their picture taken. I started thinking about what I could do to get a unique shot and ended up getting down to the bottom of the bowl, finding some old dried out juniper and taking this great shot (or at least what I thought was a great shot).
Headed home Sunday afternoon and arrived back in Provo around 4pm. Moab and the surrounding areas never stop amazing me. There is so much to do!
Thursday evening we met up and loaded up my little VW Jetta, roof rack and all, and took off. We drove past sundown and arrived at our planned campsite around 10:30pm. We camped about 9 miles up UT 313 down the Lone Mesa Group Campground road on the BLM land.
Woke up Friday morning, ate breakfast, packed up, and headed to our first destination.... my favorite climb in Moab. The Spear of Destiny (5.9) up UT 128. The Spear of Destiny is a good sized flake of red rock that sheared off the canyon wall, fell straight down, and embedded into the slope next to the cliff. The whole climb is 90 feet or so of stemming. The width of the stemming ranges from 2 feet up to maybe 4 feet at certain points and makes for a spectacular, adrenaline filled climb. At the top of the climb, the views are spectacular and standing on the top of the pinnacle is exhilarating.
We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the Colorado River and keeping out of the heat. The hottest part of the day was nearing 100!
Camped in the same location Friday night, Saturday was spent exploring Canyonlands NP since one of the girls that came had never been to Moab at all. My favorite part of Saturday was waking up at 5am and driving to Mesa Arch for some morning photography. The morning was crystal clear but I was dismayed when I arrived at Mesa arch (it was still pitch black) only to find the arch crammed with photographers. The majority was an Asian tour bus I had seen in the parking lot but though nothing of. I squeezed into the lineup with some disapproving looks from other photographers, most of whom had cameras thousands of dollars more expensive than mine (I shoot with a little Canon Rebel, but it is perfect for everything I do). The sun eventually came up and all you could hear was the snapping of shutters, photographers busy at work. Right in the middle of the sunburst streaming through the arch, I stopped and just admired the beauty. It was surreal. All the other photographers glued to their cameras, not really enjoying the natural beauty. Only focused on getting the shot then editing the photos and really seeing the sunrise from behind their lens or monitor later. Although photography is a great way to capture the beauty of the earth, there is nothing that compares to actually being there. Minutes later, everyone started clearing out of the area. I took my time and snapped a few more shots. That is where I got this beauty of a shot. It is nothing in comparison to the amazing shots more experience photographers with more expensive cameras get, but I love it because it is something I took on my little Canon Rebel.
Headed home Sunday afternoon and arrived back in Provo around 4pm. Moab and the surrounding areas never stop amazing me. There is so much to do!
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