Again, the alarm sounded at 5:30, but I didn’t get around to moving until 6:30. As much as I want, I just can not bring myself to get going that early.
7 am – After my two cups of coffee, I took the half-hour drive into Arches National park to the Delicate Arch trail head as planned. The guide says 1.5 miles each way and to allow 2-3 hours. I have to be back out of the park by noon to assure I could accomplish my daily work, and this was enough time to do the hike. It was still raining from the night before, not much more then drizzle (humid as heck!), but I decided to make the trek to the arch anyway. The trail was already filling with people at 7:30am, but I double-timed it to pass by the tour group of screaming Chinese families. Then the trail got tough; heading up the slick-rock was heating me up so much that my jacket was no longer keeping the wet out, but in. I removed the jacket and packed it in the back-pack and kept on moving. I just happened to be hiking right along side a guy from Poland so we chatted it up on the way up to the Arch. As we came to the arch, the rain stopped, giving us the time to thoroughly enjoy this feat of nature to it’s fullest. The guy from Poland snapped a shot of me standing under the arch (center image below) and I did the same for him. This was a very cool pay-off to such a short hike and I am happy I did it, even in the rain. heck, it would have been a hundred times worse if the sun were out.
11am - Back on the road and moving West again. Made it into Green River, UT and hanging out at the city park to do my work and eat a second breakfast. I stopped to refill the two gallons of water I had used these past 3 days and to pickup some more ice for the cooler. The plan is to go as far as Salina, UT and hang out there for the remainder of the day. I may stay the night there or I may tackle the east side of Nevada over-night… not sure yet.
7pm – Made it past Salina and on to Scipio (I-15 and Hwy-50 ) and pulled over at a truck stop to get my evening work done. The weather dried up the further I went West, hotter too. Another re-fill of fuel got me only 12.5 MPG during that 200 mile stint which included driving around the city of Moab and up into Arches; both not ideal for MPG. I’m going to check some mileage now to decide on staying here for the whole nite, or moving on after sunset to drive through a large chunk of Nevada while the sun is down. It will be much more comfortable, but we will see how the numbers pan out. While I am in no rush to get to California, I also have nothing entertaining enough to sit in one location for. Sitting for days at a truck stop is not my idea of adventure…
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