Moab is immediately adjacent to two National Parks, Arches and Canyonlands. There are also National Forests and State Parks in the vicinity. It is a mecca for hiking, mountain biking, 4x4's and many other adrenaline pumping activities be they on land, water or in the air. We came here to visit the National Parks and do some small scale hikes - we can't be sat on our backsides all the time!
We visited the Arches National Park first and spend a couple of days there. Arches because of the sandstone Arches, supposedly over 2,000 of them. Some, however, seem to be approaching the time of life when they will become pillars rather than arches - so we thought it sensible to visit Arches prior to Canyonlands. No need to say much, except that we found the whole experience magnificent, the photos speak for themselves.
It's still hot and long hikes are not really on the cards. Our longest hike also involved scrambling which, when confronted by it, worried us a little and, with a little bit of vertigo creeping in, we ended up cutting our hike short a bit. And blamed the heat.
However on our second visit the sky darkened significantly in the afternoon. Scarred by our experience at Sedona we donned our waterproofs and made it down the mountain to the Visitor Centre as a Sedona like deluge occurred. We sat on a bench drying off when the building started rattling as we then had at least ten minutes of hail with ice massing up in doorways. Then real Cambodian scale rain. Nothing like Sedona rain. These were the erosion vectors that had formed Arches National Park. Water was coming in through the roof of the gift shop. We watched a documentary film while all this was going on, waiting for it to stop. We then ventured outside to the car park which was either under water or covered in (red) mud. Somebody else's motorbike had been blown over. On the ride back into town there were six sets of landslides across the main road with mud, gravel and rocks. Maybe this was another Moab Adventure sport?
Canyonlands was equally impressive but on a bigger scale. The vistas were enormous. Again, it's about the photos. Visits to these two Parks should be on everyone's bucket list.
The restaurant menu which said in small print at the bottom, 'This restaurant reserves the right to charge 18% gratuity.' They didn't enforce it.
Why are there so many people speaking German in Utah - did Mormon missionaries target Germany?
Why are there so many families with lots of small children here - is that the Mormons too? Salt Lake City isn't that far.
How can somewhere claim to be environmentally conscious when all the breakfast crockery and cutlery is single use and there is no recycling - all breakfast waste ending up in the same bin?
Why are 90% of cars here absolutely gigantic 4x4 pick-up trucks?
What has happened to beef, chicken, lamb and pork? 'And what protein would you like with your salad, sir?'
Maybe we need to go and see 'The Book' when we return to London, but for now the camera is tired and we will move to another National Park tomorrow.
