Thursday July 12, 2012

Hot again this AM.  I slept on top of the sleeping bag last night, but there wasn’t too much of a breeze.  We made eggs and sausages for breakfast and since it was so hot, decided to drive around to some points of interest.  Our first stop was at Sand Dunes Arch.  It was actually a bit cooler in there as it was in some fins of rock.  We saw two artists painting the arch – it was fun to watch.  We took some photos and then headed down to Delicate Arch.  Alex, Dan and I decided to take the trail to it (1.5 miles each way) while Dave and Theo stayed nearer the truck.  Our first stop was Wolfe’s Ranch, which was a one-room log and mud hut from the 1880’s.  It is hard to believe that a family lived in something not much bigger than our library.  We continued on walking on the trail – no respite from the heat as any trees here are stunted.  We came to a steep rock face named Hell’s Ridge and I asked someone coming down how close we were to the arch.  He said about halfway.  I couldn’t believe it!  It certainly seemed as if we had walked at least a mile and a half already!  I conferred with the boys and we decided to head back.  It was really too hot to continue and then we would have to walk back further in the heat.  The air-conditioned truck felt wonderful!  We continued down the road admiring many of the sandstone formations on the way.  We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and learned about the geology of Arches.  We watched a movie on Arches and Canyonlands and then the boys stamped their passport books.  WE signed up for a tour of the Fiery Furnace tomorrow.  Dave elected to stay behind with Theo as we thought he wouldn’t be able to keep up and there were only 3 tickets available for tomorrow.  We headed into Moab again to get more ice – it certainly melts fast in this heat.  We had lunch at the Moab Grill and then came back to camp to write in journals and allow the boys to explore the campground area.  There are lots of formations and canyons just across the road from our tents.  We will have either chicken for pasta tonight (the boys like to vote) and then take in the ranger talk at 9:00.  There is a possibility of a shower tonight and I’m hoping we get it – we could use some cooling rain about now – although we learned that this area only gets 8 inches a year, so if it does rain, it won’t be a soaker.