Arches National Park

 If you have never been, you need to go.  That is to the Arches National Park, near Moab in Utah.  It is a very scenic place.  Loaded with tons of natural arches that you can hike around.  Driving back from the Grand Canyon we stopped to take a few pictures of this park that we love, and ended up spending 4 hours hiking around.  There is so much to see, you could spend a few days there.

Moab has so much to offer, if you are a person that loves to be outside enjoying nature.  Canyon Lands is close by, as well as my very favorite place to watch the sunset -- Dead Horse Point.  Fortunately, Moab is only 6 hours from Denver.

our group

This is a  picture of the girls on the trip: Lori, Michelle, Caroline, and Donna. Our back packs were just as heavy as the guys... well, maybe a little bit lighter.  Bob was carrying the entire kitchen.  I think his was the heaviest.  Thank you Bob:))

Petrified wood

There is something about petrified wood that intrigues me. The definition of petrify is to convert organic matter into stone or a stony hardness  by the infiltration of water and the deposition of  mineral matter.  It always looks like a decoration, put in just the right spot.  I wonder how long it has been there. Was it blown there? Dragged there?  How long was it living?  I think we saw this on the Tonto West day hike out of Indian Gardens in the Grand Canyon.

Scenic Byway 128

Driving  the scenic byway 128 in Utah,  on the way to Moab.  The picture doesn't do the color of the rocks justice, it's truly spectacular.  You can get lost in the reflection.

Your laundry list

Thought I would post a list of things you need to bring. The two things you WON'T need down in the Canyon are a cell phone and a lap top.  They are useless down there.  And if I remember right, cell phones don't work that well even up on the South Rim.

1 liter platypus

headlamp

2 hiking poles

camel back inside your backpack

light gloves, fleece headband- for early morning hours

large brimmed hat or ball cap to wear while hiking, the sun can be brutal

sunglasses, with a cord

sunscreen, chapstix

rather than kleenex, I take an old bandana and cut it into thirds as a hankie, seems my nose is always running down in the canyon.

small wash cloth, small hand towel, small soap- I wash out my clothes with the soap every day

toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant

at least 3 pairs of sox

underwear -2

long johns/ hot chilis- or something similar to sleep in

I take a small stuff sax to put clothes in and use for a pillow at night

sleeping bag and mummy pad

zippered long pants and a pair of shorts

2 short sleeved shirts, 

2long sleeve wicking shirts

1 long sleeve Columbia type if the sun is too intense so you can cover your arms

2 under armour bra type tank top style shirts

pair of lite weight camp shoes, I use Crocs- it does feel good to take your boots off at the site

high tech lite weight jacket

plate/bowl/cup/fork, spoon

baby wipes or something like that

At Bright Angel Campground the 1st two nights, there are electrical outlets in the bathroom to charge camera batteries.  And at Phantom Ranch Cantina there are a few outlets, just remember everyone at the campground will be wanting to use them- if they know they are there:)

The bathrooms  separate male/female  have 2 flushing toilets, and 2 sinks w/ cold running water, and a mirror made of aluminum.

At Indian Gardens their facilities are  more rustic. They have 4 toilets, but they are compostable, not flushing.  And there is a water pump system for fresh water to use.  No electrical anywhere.

We usually climb out of the canyon about 2:00ish, put our packs in the cars, because our rooms are not ready yet, and go to the bar for celebratory beers.

After a wonderful shower with running water when we get into our rooms, our dinner reservation is at 8pm at El Tovar where we will continue to celebrate.

Practice setting up your tent

Bob is practicing in the back yard, who knows, maybe he'll sleep out there tonight;)  Hopefully everyone is comfortable with setting up their tent, and blowing up the air mattress, then putting everything back together.  I am feeling pretty good about the food after today.  I spent all day on it:  Cooking, measuring, packaging, labeling, oh yes, and the dehydrator is still going. It will be running overnight, then I'll set it up again for tomorrow. I've taken over the dinning room table with the Canyon  freeze dried food, fortunately we can still eat dinner on the deck.  The food for the Canyon Trip is almost ready. Yeah!!!! Getting excited.  Hope you are too:)  Oh yes, and Happy Halloween!!!

More food

 Made the first pot of black bean chili tonight.  Will dehydrate it tomorrow morning.  Then make another pot, and do the same.  Still have to cook the ground beef/turkey that goes into it and dehydrate that as well.  I think I'm going to bring one of our large car camping pots, so I can do our dinners all at once, rather than the eight of us eating in shifts.  I figure we can put two of our stoves under the large pot.  I'll try that here at home first:))

Here's the last batch of protein energy bars. After they cool I will cut them up then vacuum seal the bars separately.  I need to make the trail mix, but I think I'm going up to bed now.  I am 3/4 into The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so I have to get reading.