Deirdre gets some tattoos……

Just sit down, make a cup of camomile tea and get a paper bag to breathe into and let me explain. We’re at the end of an exciting week in Moab Utah, Mountain Bike Mecca and Adventure Capital of the Known Universe. When we checked into our hotel, the clerk proudly told us that Moab has a brand new trauma centre as there are so many ways to hurt yourself in Moab. So we signed up for a mountain bike tour and asked if we could do some of the easier trails. Our guide took us on a trail named “Lazy-EZ” – who said Americans don’t do irony? During the ride I decided that the best way to negotiate a short steep rocky descent was to dispense with the bike altogether and fly over the top instead. In-flight, I watched a short documentary about gravity (in 4D) which had a smashing ending. So now I am sporting a wonderful range of bruises, grazes and scratches known locally as “Moab Tattoos”. These are temporary and I won’t regret them when I get old. No serious damage, thankfully. Luckily I was wearing my Big Girl Pants so I was able to get back on and keep riding.

Having said all that, Moab is a fantastic place in a superb location. The town nestles in a bowl of green on the edge of the Colorado River, surrounded by spectacular cliffs. Arches National Park is right on the doorstep, and is full of dramatic red rock cliffs, towers and would you believe rock arches. The weird part is that the backdrop to this amazing desert environment (reminiscent of the Olgas, or Kimberley region) is a snow-capped mountain range. We did lots of short day walks and took so many photos of arches we can hardly tell which is which.  I will speak the unspeakable heresy and say that Arches NP is far more impressive than the Grand Canyon! (time to get that paper bag again).

We did a canyoneering trip which involved some hiking and 2 abseils, one down a slot canyon and the other next to a rock arch. Some groups abseil off the arch but our guide was having none of it as he considers it far too dangerous (quite right too).  We had a fun afternoon, and it’s just magical to do these activities in such a spectacular location.  

Next day we hired bikes and took a shuttle to the trail head for some independent riding of the trails we did the other day. I accidently put on my Sooky-La-La pants this time, and found I had completely lost my nerve (maybe it was bruised the other day?). After a bit of a wet meltdown (that was me, not Mike), we selected a trail that was much more like what I am used to riding in Broken Hill so we ended up having a good fun ride without any more trauma. The good thing about doing a less technical trail was that we got to enjoy the magnificent scenery without becoming part of it.

The other national park in the vicinity of Moab is Canyonlands, a kind of mini-Grand Canyon. We got up this morning at 4 am so we could get to Mesa Arch for sunrise which is The Thing To Do. I can’t believe that lots of other people had exactly the same idea! It was like the Pitt Street Mall during the post-Christmas sales. There was a group of people on a photography workshop who pushed and shoved  and jostled to get the best spots, so they could all take exactly the same photo with their expensive cameras that they didn’t know how to use. Bl****y tourists!   

Back in Moab it is the April Action Car Show this weekend, so the place is insane. The mix of sub-cultures is very interesting. The usual Moabite is a lean, chilled out outdoorsman whose main issue is deciding which adventure sport to do today.  Now town has been invaded by loud fat rednecks with loud fat motorbikes and cars. Mind you, there are some entertaining sights, such as Darth Vader riding down the street on a mountain bike with its seat and handle bars extended so it was about 8 feet off the ground. As you do.

Moab wisdom:

Most Emergency Room admissions start with the phrase “Hey guys, watch this”.

Chinese restaurant menu item (which we avoided)- Pu Pu Platter. 

P.S. if you want to see the pictures at a larger scale, try double clicking those you wish to see. It should give you a larger image. For those who are still learning blog speak, anything in orange can be clicked on to get more stuff.