Moab

The Front Range got slammed with a foot +/- of snow. Kate and I thought we were avoiding the nastier side of winter by escaping to the desert. We arrived in Moab and were greeted by howling winds and a bit of snow. Spent some cold nights in the tent and colder mornings struggling with the elements and a supposedly "four season" Jet Boil fuel mixture. I fought a cold as hard as I could and finally succumbed to congestion and hacking fits. Not really fun in a tent. To cap it all off the 5 gallon water jug had a bad valve that leaked out onto our sleeping bags and pads and we spent most of a night drying the bags over a fire; it's tough to find that perfect distance from the fire that will dry the bag without melting it. We still managed to get in some great hiking and sight-seeing before I spent a day sleeping at the hostel (more of a flop-house than a hostel really, but at least it was out of the wind). The hike to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park is phenomenal. I scoffed at the sign that suggested planning 4 hours to do a three mile hike but I think it took about 5. So much to look at from an old sod roof cabin to petroglyphs, canyons, the arch, and general desert-ness. When I was a kid I had a teacher say that the way to remember the difference in spelling between desert and dessert is that dessert has two 's's, like how you would want two desserts...but I think I'd rather have two deserts.