Moab Mornings

4 Days in the Desert

By HONEST LINES

September 26^th, 2014

We took the scenic route, and it was worth it.

We pulled off at the exit, the three of us staring at a phone with just enough map to get us pointed in the right direction before it faded to black.

“Oh well—this feels like the right way…”

Things got started as soon as we hit Moab. We connected with our new friends and immediately went out to Dead Horse Point State Park and then Arches National Park to check out the Windows.

I made silent plans to return.

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Four in the morning is early, but beautiful. I struggled only because of the late dinner the previous night, but after arriving at Double Arch all discomfort was gone and it was easy to enjoy the quiet solitude of the pre-dawn desert.

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I waited for the sun to do interesting things but soon realized it would be another hour before the sun made it high enough to do anything worth shooting where I was stationed. I spent some time investigating the details close at hand and headed back into town.

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The afternoon was pleasant—a slight breeze and not horribly hot. The adventure du jour was a unique zipline outing at the top of the hills north of town. After a memorable ATV ride up some ridiculous switchbacks we “zipped the gnar” over the Slickrock Trail and basically hung out in the desert wearing helmets and harnesses. Good times were had by all (with the exception of the young woman from the UK who wasn’t keen on heights).

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The next morning Mike and I headed up early to Delicate Arch. It’s sometimes hard for me to understand why more people don’t enjoy Alpine Starts—the weather is cooler, the crowds are non-existent and the sunrises in these unique places are absolutely worth the effort.

I’ll be back.

Passing the hordes of tourists on the way out only solidified my position on early-morning wake up calls.

I love them.

The rest of our time in Moab was spent trying to soak up a little local history and culture. We only had three days or so, which simply wasn’t enough to do it properly, so hopefully we’ll be back sooner rather than later. The experience of discovering a place for myself is one that always stokes the creative coffers. New sights, smells, sounds—it all adds up and truly helps to keep the work fresh and ahead of the curve. Not too far though—as Abbey’s Hayduke once said:

“Today’s hip is tomorrow’s hype, kid.”

There’s definitely something worth thinking about here. It’s as unique a landscape and culture as you’ll find anywhere, and still holds a lot of mystery to me…

…but I think I’m going to enjoy figuring it all out.

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