I would have loved to stay in Colorado for at least another month, exploring all of its natural attractions but I got the flava and I had to move on. The
lifts at A-Basin closed at 2:30 p.m. and I hit I-70 for a steady lope west toward Utah. Halfway there, a Denny's "Country Slam" and some coffee revived me and gave me the strength to push on. God, I love that shit. I have no idea what is actually inside of country fried steak, but if you cover it with enough gravy, the contents are irrelevant.
The terrain began to change radically as I approached Utah. The elevation drops steadily and the greenery begins to slowly disappear. Ain't that the truth. The earth becomes sandy and is built-up with varying regions of grey, yellow, and red mounds. Everything has the slow droop and melt of a wet sandcastle. To the south, far in the distance, the snow-capped peaks of the La Sal Mountains waft in a heat shimmer.
I reached Moab at about seven and checked around for camping options. I tell you, there are some perfect places to set up a homestead about six miles north of the city. And they're free.
"Bessie!!! I think it's time to put on another coat'er that seam sealer and fire up the bug zapper."
Along Hwy 313 and the Seven Mile Valley is mostly Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and, as at most BLM areas in the U.S., one can camp basically anywhere next to
designated 4WD roads. Generally, as in this area, there are a few marked sites on BLM lands in more popular places (next to streams) but mostly everything else is unmarked. Once again, I will drop the mantra of LNT, which is especially important in this environment. Cryptobiotic crust is a living collection of organisms on the desert soil that supports the plant and animal life and keeps the sand from blowing away. "Don't tread on me!", said James.
On my first day, I visited Arches National Park. While driving through the park, it took all the concentration I could muster to keep from rolling my sled into a fiery desert wreckage.
The place is like a cartoon. They cannot be real, these rocks of sand. Dali painted a box of Neapolitan ice-cream and gave it to Utah. I expected to see a long-eared coyote come plummeting over a cliff, followed shortly by an anvil.
At the Devil's Garden Trailhead, about 25 miles into the park, there are a selection of nice hikes including an 8 mile loop on the "primitive trail." I highly suggest it. The path
snakes its way through and across steep fins and cave-like rock formations. It also passes by at least eight arches including the three pictured in this journal entry. Landscape Arch has a span of 360 feet making it the second largest natural arch in the world. In 1991, a slab of rock 60 feet long fell from Landscape Arch causing park managers to close the hiking trails directly below it. The park also has over 2,000 other cataloged arches giving it the highest density of these things in the world. Fahk the stats, this place got tha jack.
I spent eight hours walking around various trails and seeing about fifteen of the major arches. My dogs were barking when I retreated to camp for a little mac 'n' cheese, desert style.
Southeastern Utah is spectacular, no doubt about it. But as I travel through
places like this, I realize more and more that what is important to us as a society is not the far-flung fantastic natural treasures. They are but a diversion from everyday life. What really impacts our lives are the natural places close to home. I would rather have a series of beautiful open space preserves ten minutes from my house and my job than the opportunity to visit one natural wonder.
Speaking of natural wonders, I have been reading some articles about the 1996 land swap that took place in Utah to instantly create the 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is indicitive of other impending federal land swaps that could affect other states. The opposition from local mining interests was intense. Obviously I am biased but I just can't see how mining this pristine land makes sense economically or environmentally, especially in the long-term.
Well, I've got slickrock on my mind. Story at 11.....
lifts at A-Basin closed at 2:30 p.m. and I hit I-70 for a steady lope west toward Utah. Halfway there, a Denny's "Country Slam" and some coffee revived me and gave me the strength to push on. God, I love that shit. I have no idea what is actually inside of country fried steak, but if you cover it with enough gravy, the contents are irrelevant.The terrain began to change radically as I approached Utah. The elevation drops steadily and the greenery begins to slowly disappear. Ain't that the truth. The earth becomes sandy and is built-up with varying regions of grey, yellow, and red mounds. Everything has the slow droop and melt of a wet sandcastle. To the south, far in the distance, the snow-capped peaks of the La Sal Mountains waft in a heat shimmer.
I reached Moab at about seven and checked around for camping options. I tell you, there are some perfect places to set up a homestead about six miles north of the city. And they're free.
"Bessie!!! I think it's time to put on another coat'er that seam sealer and fire up the bug zapper."
Along Hwy 313 and the Seven Mile Valley is mostly Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and, as at most BLM areas in the U.S., one can camp basically anywhere next to
designated 4WD roads. Generally, as in this area, there are a few marked sites on BLM lands in more popular places (next to streams) but mostly everything else is unmarked. Once again, I will drop the mantra of LNT, which is especially important in this environment. Cryptobiotic crust is a living collection of organisms on the desert soil that supports the plant and animal life and keeps the sand from blowing away. "Don't tread on me!", said James.On my first day, I visited Arches National Park. While driving through the park, it took all the concentration I could muster to keep from rolling my sled into a fiery desert wreckage.
The place is like a cartoon. They cannot be real, these rocks of sand. Dali painted a box of Neapolitan ice-cream and gave it to Utah. I expected to see a long-eared coyote come plummeting over a cliff, followed shortly by an anvil.
At the Devil's Garden Trailhead, about 25 miles into the park, there are a selection of nice hikes including an 8 mile loop on the "primitive trail." I highly suggest it. The path
snakes its way through and across steep fins and cave-like rock formations. It also passes by at least eight arches including the three pictured in this journal entry. Landscape Arch has a span of 360 feet making it the second largest natural arch in the world. In 1991, a slab of rock 60 feet long fell from Landscape Arch causing park managers to close the hiking trails directly below it. The park also has over 2,000 other cataloged arches giving it the highest density of these things in the world. Fahk the stats, this place got tha jack.I spent eight hours walking around various trails and seeing about fifteen of the major arches. My dogs were barking when I retreated to camp for a little mac 'n' cheese, desert style.
Southeastern Utah is spectacular, no doubt about it. But as I travel through
places like this, I realize more and more that what is important to us as a society is not the far-flung fantastic natural treasures. They are but a diversion from everyday life. What really impacts our lives are the natural places close to home. I would rather have a series of beautiful open space preserves ten minutes from my house and my job than the opportunity to visit one natural wonder.Speaking of natural wonders, I have been reading some articles about the 1996 land swap that took place in Utah to instantly create the 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is indicitive of other impending federal land swaps that could affect other states. The opposition from local mining interests was intense. Obviously I am biased but I just can't see how mining this pristine land makes sense economically or environmentally, especially in the long-term.
Well, I've got slickrock on my mind. Story at 11.....
No comments:
Post a Comment