Wednesday’s plan included Arches National Park and then the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands that we did not get to the day before. First up was Arches, where we did plenty of hiking to get to these things, but it was so worth it.
One thing I just could not get over was this lady (photo below). I’m not sure which arch this lady thought she was going to, St. Louis, Constantine, McDonald’s? I could be wrong, or just missed the memo, but I’m pretty sure that outfit doesn’t meet the National Park Service’s clothing recommendations, which generally suggests good walking shoes. Regardless, we carried on moved into Canyonlands and headed back to the hotel. This is when Matt had this brilliant moment to go swimming in the Colorado River. I had suggested the hotel pool, but you know that isn’t adventurous enough for Matt. I agree to try this, but I’m not good with just swimming in things I can’t see the bottom in. We make it to Sandy Beach (sounds like a nice resort, right?) only to hike down a hill with brush and stickers and those damn pnats and flies again, only to find Sandy Beach not very pleasant and the river absolutely not suitable for my swimming standards. Needless to say, we ended up back at the hotel pool, where I suggested in the first place. If he would only listen sometimes….
As we wrapped up our final evening in Moab, I came to the conclusion that this place must be what some would call purgatory. If Hell has a foyer to welcome you in, I would envision it looking and feeling like this place does. 107 during the day is halfway to boiling, and I’m just not cut out for that, and quite frankly I’m not really sure who is.
