BOSTON!!! Like you, I was shocked beyond measure at the tragedy at this most famous race. The loss of life and maiming saddened me greatly. Our son, Rob, has run Boston twice. It took several days for me to come to terms with the horrible aftermath. At first I wanted my children to stop participating in sporting events (cycling, Ironman competitions and marathons), but after reading Thomas Friedman's opinion piece in The New York Times, I changed my mind. It was published on April 16th and titled "Bring On The Next Marathon." Basically, it was about never giving terrorists the idea that we (the nation) quit.
This was our third week in Moab, Utah. We are finding April to be a very iffy month as far as the weather goes. Sunday and Monday forced us to do indoor things because of the rain and wind. Roger, Bear and I are used to being outside. When bad weather forces us indoors we have to become very creative. Reading, working on the computer, watching movies does keep us busy, but we do need our hiking and cycling fix.
On Tuesday, we decided to brave the elements and drive the LaSal Mountain Loop. These mountains are the snow covered ones that lie south of Moab on the Utah/Colorado border. We climbed to 8,000 feet and the temperature dropped 10 degrees.
Driving to the La Sal Mountains
No red rock here! Pines and Aspens dot the sides of the mountains.
Heading back into Moab, we saw the famous rock formations known as "The Priest" and "The Nuns." Moisture in the air gives this picture an unusual coloring.
"The Priest" and "The Nuns"
We had a break in the weather on Tuesday afternoon, so we started out on a bike ride, only to have to turn around after 5 miles because of the wind. That wind brought in freezing temperatures, unusual for Moab at this time of year.
We woke up on Wednesday morning to the sight of snow on the red rocks in Moab. The picture below showed it all.
This picture of the snowfall was taken from our spot at Portal RV Park.
Finally, on Thursday morning, we awoke to beautiful blue skies, but it was cold. Around 11, the thermometer reached 40 degrees, so we decided to take Bear and do the Hunter Canyon Hike. We drove about 9 miles, along the Colorado River, to the Hunter Canyon Trailhead. This hike followed a branch of the Colorado, the Kane River (at this time of year, it is really a stream) into Hunter Canyon. This hike had lots of red sand, the Kane River, hiking in brush and a little bit of rock scrambling.
Roger at the start of the hike
Heading into Hunter Canyon
Traversing the stream
How do you spell "BATH?"
At times, the stream was deep and Bear loved it.
Brush Hiking
Bear is on the run.
He can actually find the trail better that we can, even when it comes to crossing streams.
Beautiful Spring wildflowers
After the hike, Roger came up with the brilliant idea of stopping off at The Barkery (Moab's pet store) to wash Bear. They provided the shampoo conditioner, and waist high wash station. Our backs loved it. It wasn't long before Bear was no longer red and the sand was down the drain. What a great place to wash away the dirt from a fun hike.
The Wash
The Dry
We decided to cycle in Arches National Park on Friday. It is located 3 miles from where the Tour is parked. Moab has a great cycling path that goes from the town to Canyonlands National Park, passing Arches along the way.
This bridge across the Colorado River is only for cyclists and pedestrians.
Roger is ready for the climb to Balanced Rock. This road is a continual climb with very few breaks. Good thing we had lots of practice with Mt. Lemmon in Tucson.
Imagine our surprise, on the way back from Arches, to find a tight rope walker on the Colorado River. Blow the following pictures up and you can really see this man. Thank goodness he has a safety harness attached.
Thank you for checking in with us. We love Moab and look forward to another week of cycling and hiking in this beautiful area. Next week marks our two year anniversary of living full time in the RV.
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