Moab, Utah

view from our first night's campsite outside Moab

Jay and I making dinner - steaks, mashed potatoes, and zucchini

this was a nearby site on a river we considered for camping but rejected because it didn't feel right

breakfast at campsite #1

view from campsite #1

first day exploring Arches National Park - this is Landscape Arch, along Devil's Garden Trail

we walked out onto one of the 'blades' at the end of the Devil's Garden Trail. Its impossible to describe how tangible is the sense of geologic time and power as you carefully make your way out to a moment like this.

Devil's Garden, Arches National Park

About an hour's drive south, and a hard, hot hike for another 45 minutes got us to the very famous Delicate Arch.

This was campsite #2, about an hour further south from Moab, in Canyonlands National Park.
This was our best evening. we sat on the edge of a cliff until about 3am, in moonlight, looking out over hundreds of miles and millions of years of erosion and tectonic force.

waiting for sunset at Canyonlands

me, jay, and sean (and a handful of other international travelers) waiting for the sun to set

we spent hours talking about things we spotted and theorizing about the tectonics.

view out across Canyonlands

Canyonlands in fading light