The weather was supposed to be really wet and cold in Salt Lake but warm in Southeastern Utah. Myke and I decided to disregard the high wind advisory for the area and to focus on the 70 degree weather. Hmmmm...perhaps we won't be so blasé next time.
We got there at about 9:30 Friday night and set our tent up in some fairly gusty wind. Our site lined up against some huge red rock boulders and cliffs; a really gorgeous spot. Unfortunately, we spent the night listening to the wind howl and eating sand that had blown up under our rainfly and through the mesh of our tent. We ate some more sand for breakfast and then hiked to Delicate Arch.
This cliff provided a little bit of much needed shelter from the wind. Some people coming around the corner warned us to "hold onto your kids, the worst wind of the day is right around the corner".
We huddled down in a crevice to get some shelter and enjoy the view.
On the way down the trail the wind was also bad. Sand + wind = beautiful canyons but also stinging cheeks. We found a good spot behind some trees and up against a cliff to eat a snack.
We finished our hike and went back to camp to check out our tent. It was fine. Headed out to Moab to pick up a few things and see if we could get a nap and find a park for lunch. Nap: check. Park: check. Lunch: check. Store: check.
This is where I wish I'd thought to take a picture. We got back to our camp ready to deny the wind, cook some dinner and enjoy the rest of the evening. Only, when we got there, we had no tent. 70 mph gusts took their toll and from looking around there were really no tents left. If you didn't take yours down, by 5:00 on Saturday nature had taken it down for you.
We did find our tent and our other gear. Some kind souls had gathered it all up and stuffed it under our picnic table. We packed it up, sand and all, and headed for dinner in Moab and a long drive home.
5 comments:
Sucking down sand in southern Utah with the Madhogs sounds like my kind of heaven.
I have often wished for a disposable tent. Not a very green idea, but I think I could make a million on the idea.
Disposable tents! Genius! We wish you were with us too. Except we would have felt bad about ruining your tent.
Anne Coleen did a "report" on Arches for school at the end of 4th grade. I tried to express to her its beauty...but oh, to be there.
Oh yeah....that sand can be nasty.
p.s. Our nice tent that Kate had put up in the back yard was ripped up by the wind and the pole was snapped. grr....we don't live where there is an REI to fix it. One more thing to send with Kate when she comes.
Sounds like a memorable adventure. I love the girls wind-blown hair in the pix! So cute. And, suddenly I'm craving pudding...
I want to go camping!
Cindy, when are you going to make it out here with your entire family? Don't get me wrong, we'll gladly continue to take you piecemeal, but I would love to take a trip down to Southern Utah with all of you sometime. Or maybe we should just drag our family out to Iowa.
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