Summer of Hell - Days 11-12: Moab
We knew that two full weeks in an RV would be stressful, it's not a big space. Plus two full weeks of hiking would wear down the kids, and two full weeks of 100F heat would make anyone cranky. So we planned a vacation from our vacation - we got an AirBnB condo in Moab with seven beds, three showers, lots of air conditioning, a washer/dryer, and a pool!
Lounging around
Tuesday we didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything, just laid around and relaxed at the Sage Creek Resort. Ed and Beth hiked Canyonlands National Park. The rest of us hit the pool!
Late afternoon we went downtown and did some window shopping and people watching. Moab is definitely a tourist town. Different vibe from the RV parks we've been staying at for sure.
I promised the kids fireworks years ago. As a Californian I want you to know I had two fire extinguishers ready to go, plus we set the fireworks off in the middle of the road!
Fiery Furnace hike
Wednesday we went into Arches National Park to hike Fiery Furnace.
We did a self-guided loop without the ranger. Who needs a ranger?! I also may have pooh-poohed the safety briefing and warning about not getting lost. Pfft, how hard could it be?
The permit was explicit about not hiking with others, so we decided to try to beat the Sheffields around the two-mile loop. They went off first and we gave them a few minutes before heading off after them.
There aren't trail markings and it's not obvious where the paths go, there are footprints everywhere. I'm not even sure there are paths.
We didn't see the Sheffields at all. Every now and then we ran into someone heading a totally different direction.
One family we saw was VERY confused. We wanted to help them but the permit was very clear, so we watched them hike the wrong way without saying anything. Good luck random family!
There were some tight spots.
No signs, no obvious paths, it was surprisingly confusing. No GPS.
Looks the same but this is a totally different narrow path. Lots of dead ends!
It was fun for the first few miles, then it became clear we weren't going to beat the Sheffields. We went at least half a mile down a canyon that looked very promising but kept getting trickier and trickier. It eventually ended in something I didn't feel safe climbing.
We backtracked and saw a guided group climb an innocuous-looking rock to a really narrow passage climbing up and out of the canyon we were in. Lord of The Rings style hidden passageway, we never would have found it.
We let the group go ahead and immediately were lost again. It was great!
Eventually we found the path and managed to get out. We figured the Sheffield's had been back for hours, but they got even more lost than we did and they got lost in a totally different spot than we did!
We all wished we had another day at the pool, but the clock was ticking and we had to keep moving.
Drive to Mesa Verde
Two-hour drive to the Mesa Verde RV Resort, which has a pool and a hot tub*.
* Read the next installment for why you shouldn't go in every hot tub you see!