Thursday 9/2
Devil's Garden
At the end of the road at Arches NP, there is a massive parking lot. The area is full of buses and motor homes and non-walkers. They swarm to see Landscape Arch - the longest one of them all.
Beyond that skinny thing lies two beauties: Navajo & Partition Arches. Beyond that, the hike out to Double O Arch and Dark Angel spire would make a nice out and back day hike for all smart people. But for those who braved the Fiery Furnace in the rains the day before, the "dangerous" (so the sign says) Primitive trail loop sounds like fun. They would be wrong, and they would soon fear for their lives. The rains created mud that stuck to boots of the previous day's silly survivors. That mud dried on our day and turned back to sand. This makes the steep rock trail very interesting in places.
The first slick spot that we could slide off, would’ve only broken bones. The second place, and us not wanting to turn back because of the first scare, would have us fall to our deaths… it’s criminal for the Park Service to not enhance this so-called trail, by providing a handhold or steps, or better yet, a guide wire! I have PTSD about getting my wife & Tricia down safely. Mark instinctively chose not to follow that day, and rightly so. Somehow my cleaning off the rock with a towel prior to the ladies' descent, helped me feel like I did something to thwart a Search and Rescue event. One more slick bit above a deep water pond, made us almost giddy to think we would only get wet and ruin our phones, instead of perish. We had a long sandy ease of a stroll out from there, and ended the day with 9.5 miles and muddy boots and bottoms. Not to mention the exhaustion associated with fear! We longed for the comfort and safety of the Fiery Furnace…but slept well that night, until the early morning when it all became a Dumptruck Circus again!!
PS: Dumptruck Circus??
The camp we booked was 2 blocks from the Moab main drag. It was a lovely shaded spot along a little creek with huge cottonwood trees and a rim of green grass all around. The issue we had, and hence the silly Dumptruck Circus nick name, was associated with our immediate neighbors. To one side, a middle school, that had outside loud speakers pointed straight in our direction, and at 7:15 am a student would be called to the office to read out the day's lunch menu, all birthdays and events, and pledge of allegiance. Prior to that by an hour, we were already woken up because of the so-called dumptrucks -juggling-dumpsters-while-backing-up and beeping. The topper is the dog park for dogs that only bark incessantly, that wake from the sound of children on loudspeakers. Don’t camp here unless you're a New York native and can handle boisterous mornings!
