Arches National Park

---

Arches
Slooooow start to this morning. I just felt really tried and I also had great wifi AND phone signal so I called around family and checked up on Becky to see how the jet lag was treating her. By the time I got out the door it was around 11am. Arches national park is one that I had been really looking forward to. It's only a couple of miles out of Moab and the road in was absolutely rammed with cars. After talking a little while to get through the pay station I did my usual and headed to the visitors centre to get insider tips for the best places to go. I'm not sure where everyone was but even though the car park was full the centre itself wasn't and I had plenty of time to talk to the Rangers and explain what I'd like to do. The lady I spoke to was so nice and she asked me loads of questions like she was really interested in what I wanted to do. She told me about a place that is her favourite in the whole park. She said that she could pretty much promise that there would be nobody else there and that I would love it. She told me that it wasn't for the feint hearted and that I had to wear proper boots and not sneakers but drew the route on a map and sent me on my way. After a 16 mile off road drive I reached a sandy patch with served as the car park for the trail. There weren't even other vehicle tracks that far out. I loaded up with water and walked to the tiny sign saying this was the start of the trail. The arrow on the sign pointed vertically upwards right up a slick rock cliff! I used to love clambering around on the rocks when I was little and it turns out that even not I'm not so little it's great. I climbed and climbed and scrambled and finally got to the top! The views were spectacular. The little piles of rock which show you where the trail is (it couldn't be less obvious) told me to head towards the horizon. I walked for another 45 minutes or so and reached the Arch. I would have taken a gazillion pictures but because I am a prize idiot I'd left both my spare batteries in the car. I stayed at the arch for a while and just lay out in the sunshine and enjoyed the absolute silence. There was no breeze, no aeroplanes not even any insect noise. It was still and beautiful. On my way back I kept hearing a rustling noise behind me. I figured the sun was probably getting to me... At last check it was in the upper 90s. When ever I turned around the rustling would stop. Eventually I turned around and stayed still long enough to see I was being followed by a little fluffy creature. It wasn't scared of me in the slightest and just seemed a bit curious. I don't think it was after any food, it just wasn't shy! Once we'd made eye contact and we had both decided that the other was ok, we walked together until I got back to the top of the cliff. It was really surreal and in a weird way quite special.You know how I said the tail was almost vertical on the way up? Well it felt more than vertical on the way down. In the end I decided to just sort of throw myself down and hope for the best. Sometimes leaping onto lower rocks, sometimes climbing backwards and sometimes shuffling on my bum. It took me a good 30 minutes to get down but I actually really enjoyed myself.On the way out of the park I stopped at all the sights and did the little walks to see some of the famous arches. There were hundreds of tourists everywhere. Under the arches, on the arches, dangling from the arches.. It was just a bit much. As I was driving out of the park I felt exceptionally pleased with myself that even amongst all those people I'd found a little piece of perfect solitude that they would drive right by!In the evening I took myself down into the town of Moab, it's not much of a walk from my motel and I just fancied doing something that wasn't outdoorsy. It's felt pretty weird going from always having makeup on etc in San Fran and Las Vegas, to just growing on gym gear and sun cream. I think by the time Friday comes I will be ready for civilisation! (and shopping!!) Moab is nice, plenty of little shops to walk around but I was feeling pretty beat so I headed back to the motel for an early night.

---