Farley Goes to Moab and the Mighty Palouse, Day 3: Dead Horse, Hopefully Not Dead Van

Today we waited for our Helena friends Wayne and Cindy Huntley to arrive.  They'd spent the night in Spanish Fork, a few hours away.   While waiting, I carved the Wal-Mart pumpkin I brought from Helena to get ready for trick-or-treat on Monday. When Marc and I hadn't seen them by 11 a.m. or so, we decided to take on the day and head out to ride at Dead Horse Point State Park.

The trails at Dead Horse are beginner/intermediate with little bits of more technical stretches thrown in.  Marc and I rode 11 miles of cool desert trail.  We wrapped up with lunch in Farley and a stop at the visitor's center to learn a little something.  Farley did start making a clunking noise as we drove over a drain grate in the parking lot there, so we might get him checked out in town on Monday. 

The Intrepid Trail System in Dead Horse Point State Park. 
If you're a solid intermediate rider, you'll love this because
there's barely anything you can't get up or down.

After showers at the Moab Aquatic Center, we headed back to camp, where Wayne and Cindy had shown up and we were all planning to have dinner. We ate, drank, and laughed until Marc broke up the party by insisting on listening to the WSU-OSU game on XM. I learned during the game that the Huskies beat Utah today, which is no big deal, but Marc told me that ESPN College Game Day was in Salt Lake City.  That's right; Kirk Herbstreit was in the same state as me and Marc didn't even let me know.  Probably best for Kirk.

My pumpkin, ready for Halloween
in a mere two days.  No one seems to think
there will be kids in the campground on a Monday,
nor do they think they'll come up to a
van to get candy.  We'll see about that.

Sharing headphones to listen to the
WSU game on XM.  At this point,

we were down 21-0. 
Marc was dubious.

Farley Goes to Moab and the Mighty Palouse, Day 2: Arch Hike, Mountain Bike

Across the street from our campground is the trailhead for what was formerly known as Negro Bill Canyon.  Now it's Grandstaff Canyon.  Regardless, Marc and I hiked up to what is the world's sixth largest arch.  It was an easier hike than I expected.  The arch is insane.  As were the folks rappelling from a wall nearby.  It was obviously a family and with a couple of guides.  I talked to the dad, who said he'd never rock-climbed before so, yes, beginners could do it.  They'd hiked in, rappelled one wall a short distance from this one, a little more hiking, then the second rappel, then they were going to hike out the same way Marc and I came in. I gotta check out the cost.  I work a ton in the next six weeks at the ambulance and might splurge if the price seems right.

Any hole in a rock wall with a couple of timber supports
is irresistible to mining man.

Morning Glory Arch, with
someone rappelling
in the background.

Then Marc and I headed to the Brands Trails area outside of town for a short afternoon ride.  We did one of my favorite Moab loops, Lazy-EZ.  It's the easy kind of trail where you won't get hurt on your first day and ruin the rest of your trip.  Then we did a second loop of more slick-rock type riding, O-Something. I describe it as the longest three miles in mountain biking. I was exhausted by the time we were done.  So we headed back to camp, made van quesadillas and salad, and sat around the fire drinking beer with Other Mark and Jo and getting to know our campground neighbors from Texas. Wayne and Cindy arrive tomorrow morning!

The Circle-O Trail. 
Way off in the distance is Arches National Park.

Farley Goes to Moab and the Mighty Palouse, Day 1: Two Girls, Two Bikes, One Van

Three couples--Other Mark Smith and Jo Berg, Wayne and Cindy Huntley, and Marc and I--planned a trip to Moab for a long weekend this weekend.  Then Marc and Other Mark had to go and decide to leave early, on Monday, so Other Mark could spend a little more quality time in the new Casita he and Jo brought home from the factory in Texas last month.  I had to work Tuesday and had book group Wednesday, so Jo and I decided to stick with the original plan and leave Thursday morning.
It was the first time I'd ever driven Farley any real distance without Marc.  I told him I was freaked out about a break-own.  He told me, "Just do what you'd do if I were there.  I'm not mechanical.  Call AAA." Luckily, it didn't come to that.  Farley was awesome.

It was a quick and, thankfully, uneventful, trip.  We were undecided about whether we'd stop and spend the night along the way or just bomb on through the 715 miles to get there in one day.  Somewhere around Salt Lake City, we realized it was only another four or so hours, so we decided bombing through was the way to go.  I was beyond hopped up on caffeine and at a bathroom stop in Wellington, Utah, I realized I was shaking, either from caffeine or not enough food, so we drove a couple blocks back to a fast-food Mexican place I'd seen for the Thursday two tacos and a soda special.

You can't beat all this food for $4.50
Soda included.
Horchata for an extra $1.

We got to Mark and Other Marc's campsite along the Colorado River outside of Moab around 7:30 that night.  We were distracted just before their campsite by a truck with huge light panels shining up onto the red rocks along the road.  We assumed it was some sort of road work or maybe search and rescue but turns out it a tourist company illuminates the rocks for a boat trip along the Colorado.

Farley, down by the
Colorado River.

Home is where the heart is. 
Go Cougs!

Canyon walls across the
street from our campsite,
all lit up for the boat tour.