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Moab, Utah

Moab is a fairly small town on the eastern edge of the state that is known for it’s gorgeous red rock country and high adventure lifestyle.  Earlier this summer a fairly large group of friends and strangers spent the weekend hiking, river rafting, and generally causing a ruckus.

(Photo Credit: Stacy at Three Winks Studio)

Upon arrival a small group of friends drove up to Dead Horse Point to watch the sunset.  I had been to Dead Horse before, but watching the sun turn all that red rock to brilliant orange and then to dusky purple was absolutely gorgeous.

(Photo credit: Mona)

The next day two busloads of us went on a white-water rafting trip.  We suited up in life jackets and loaded up the buses and drove up-river to our launch location.  At this point I was feeling pretty good about the whole “river rafting” thing.

(Photo Credit: Asholina)

See?  I’m smiling and don’t even think about my greasy camping hair.  River Rafting!  Yay!

And then the sky darkened, literally, and the temperature dropped, and I was stuck in a blow-up raft in the middle of a frigid river of melted snow.  There was no escape.  All photo’s pilfered from the river guide company…and I can’t remember now who they were or I’d give them some credit here.

I’m second from the left in the red surf shirt.

And stroke!  Dig deeper, you scurvy dogs!

Here we go!

The point of no return

Holy Swear Words!  That water is breathtakingly cold!

If you’ll notice, our river guide–who is sitting at the very back of the raft and whom we lovingly nicknamed “Wildcard”–is holding on to my life-jacket to prevent me from falling out.  Thanks, Wildcard!

Frigidness and I am still threatening to fall out.

Seriously, if it wasn’t for Wildcard’s firm hold on my life-jacket I would have been a goner.

Finally flattening out, we made it through without anyone (like me) being dumped into the river.

Now, this may look like good times and Fun For Everyone.  It was.  Mostly.  The problem was that the river was icy cold and the day was overcast, gloomy, and a bit nippy.  We had prepared for hundred-degree temperatures and the gray skies and icy river left me covered in goosebumps.  My right leg, submerged to my calf in the frigid water, was completely numb.  When we stopped for lunch–and therefore stopped exerting the energy of paddling through rapids–I started to feel like I was in the first stages of hypothermia.  It was miserable, and our group quickly formed a Human Huddle Puddle to try and keep warm and block some of the wind.

(Photo Credit: E7)

The second half of the river was more rapids and more freezing water.  Luckily, the sun came out a bit and we warmed up some.  Here is my raft again, heading through some rapids.

I am again at the very back, second from the right.

After all this excitement, I needed some serious relaxing time to get my body temperature back to normal.  Our campsite (see below) was perfect for that sort of thing.

(Photo Credit: Asholina)

After a fantastic dinner we had one more Big Adventure for this Moab trip; a moonlit night-hike to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.  I have hiked Delicate before, it’s one of the most recognizable landmarks of the Western United States; it even graces the Utah license plates.  Last time I hiked in the middle of a ridiculously hot day–I must say, a night hike was infinitely easier and went much faster.  Our group had headlamps “just in case”, but there was so much moonlight that we could find our way across the slick-rock without too much trouble, making sure to keep a lookout for cairns so we didn’t get lost.  The end result?  Stunning.

The entire group used headlamps to light up the 50-plus foot tall arch and someone with a fancy camera and some serious shutter skill took this photo.  The problem is, I’m not a hundred percent sure who it belongs to–I think it’s Stacy.  If you, dear reader, have any insight let me know so I can properly credit this.

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