From the Mountains to the Desert

Two weekends ago, Cherise and I met up with some other friends down in Moab for a few days. I was so happy to be back in my good ole Southern Utah! On Friday, we hiked to Corona Arch and I climbed up and set up a rappel. It was quite the climb to get up there, but well worth it. I loved just sitting up at the top of the arch, while everyone else rappelled down. Then last of all, it was my turn! Once I got to the free rappel part (no rock), I turned upside down and lowered myself down. One thing I did forget was that I had my nalgene water bottle in a mesh pocket on the outside of my backpack, so that came out when I flipped upside down. It fell about 80 feet then bounced back up about 12 ft and rolled quite a bit. But, it IS a nalgene, and besides a few scrapes and scuffs, it was in perfect condition! :)

Corona Arch is 140 ft tall, and is located near the Colorado River in between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks ( = FREE!). It was beautiful!

just hangin' around

After that, we hiked up a canyon and played in the water for a bit (while it was raining). The water was so warm; it was amazing!

Then we grabbed a bite to eat and tried to race the sun to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. We didn't quite get there for sunset, like we wanted, but it was almost better. We got there after the sun had sunk below the horizon, but there was still a glow in the sky, the moon was out, and not another soul was there! It was perfecto! (yes, I'm practicing my espanol)

We camped out under a beautiful clear sky of stars, and I woke everybody up at 5am to go see the sunrise at Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. We were the only ones there at first and just on top of the arch, watching the pink glow on the horizon grow. It was awe-inspiring! I love early mornings in God's creations!

This is us trying to pretend like we're fully awake :)

On top of Mesa Arch as the light builds

As soon as other people started arriving with big, fancy cameras, we decided to get off the arch since we figured they probably didn't want us in their pictures. And this is what we saw for the next half hour...

Me running across the arch

Next we drove a little further into Canyonlands out to Island in the Sky viewpoint...I love this place!

We went back to our campsite to eat breakfast and pack up, then we did a hike up Negro Bill Canyon to Morning Glory Natural Bridge. Its 243 ft long, the 6th longest in the United States!

We hiked back down, but instead of taking the trail which switchbacks across the river, we just walked down the river. It was great! Then we went swimming and sliding at a place where the rocks are all slippery. Then after some ice cream from McDonald's, we headed back up to Provo.