Moab to the Grand

I'm pretty sure I'm going to leave something awesome out, but at least I know it. So here it goes anyway, pressing on to summarize the last few weeks, despite the absurdity of my efforts!

It should be also known, to start out with, that nearly every day during this portion of the trip, Chelsea said at one time or another, "This is the best day ever!" As for me, every night when we were going to bed, I tended to say something along the line of, "I'm going to stay here forever." (I realize that might not be the most forward-moving thinking, but stagnancy is my weakness--a weakness which I have to overcome every time we move the car.) With that in mind, here's what went down.

OK, Moab. I was super-happy to be in Moab, because, unlike for Chelsea, that actually is home to me, at least for the last couple years. I had this list of people I wanted to see, even though we were only there for the week, and, surprisingly, I got to see almost everyone, and, even more surprising, I had meaningful interactions with most of them. (Not just the "Hi! I'm in town! Bye!" interaction.) Among other awesome events, we got to climb at Indian Creek with some friends, and, with my old roommate, Pete, we got to mountain bike the Slick Rock practice loop, climb a tower, and hike around a bunch. It was superb.

I finally had to drag myself out of town, because if I didn't, I was sure I'd never leave. William Least Heat Moon has some good quotes about how comfort effects the traveler's will that I'll try to edit into this post later.

Next, we booked it down to the Needles District of Canyonlands, where we hiked 11 miles round-trip to see the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers. I've wanted to see it for years, and so it was quite fulfilling to finally do it. It was a gorgeous hike, too, and we even got our first sun-burns of the year--in early March! (That's pretty early for us hill-folk.)

We then set out the find the Robber's Roost, a hideout along the Outlaw trail that was frequented by Butch Cassidy and Sundance. Had we driven straight there, it would have been just 35 miles on dirt roads to get there. However, we got properly mixed up, saw some wild burros (the only herd with paints in Utah), ran into a really nice and helpful park ranger reincarnation of Ed Abbey, and then found our way to the actual Roost, clocking in over 80 miles and many hours on dirt roads. It was sooooo worth it. What's left is an old chimney in a small clearing of a low and wide canyon. We laid our sleeping bags out in front of the hearth, and ate and slept beneath the stars, completely alone. We could have stayed there for at least a week without ever seeing anyone, and most likely a month or more.

After enjoying and exploring the Roost area all morning, we moved on, rolling and tumbling towards the Grand Canyon. We were also thinking to eat at a nice cafe if we saw one, which ended up being Georgie's in Escalante, Utah. We had a fantastic Mexican dinner there, and some good conversation with Georgie, a lovely woman who single-handedly ran the show and touted tales of her days at Haight-Ashbury. We enjoyed her stories, and at the end of the meal, when we asked about camping nearby, she offered us the room above the cafe! We had to take it--it was just too perfect. According to all my research--mainly Kerouacian--this is what's supposed to happen on road-trips. I just didn't figure it really would. We ended up staying two nights, and hanging out a little with Georgie and her drum-making friend, Kevin, and got to eat plenty more good food, including home-made cookies, along the way. Getting invited into a stranger's home was everything I dreamed it would be, minus being murdered in our sleep, and, again, we'd found another place that it was sure hard to leave.

Finally, we've made our way through Navajo Nation and down to the Grand Canyon. It's friggin' cold here (13 farhenheit last night), and we're planning to hike down to the bottom tomorrow (where it's warmer). I've got a friend trying to lure me west to Vegas (which is also warmer) for some climbing after we hike back out, but we also want to head Mesa Verde way (east), so as usual, the next step, or even cardinal direction, is up in the air.

**One final bit of trivia, which I think connects the start and end of this post nicely: At the end of Thelma and Louise, they are supposed to be at the Grand Canyon. In fact, they are actually filming in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands, in Moab. There it is. Enjoy your useless information--I've got plenty of it.