We “wake” in the morning to survey the damage. Nothing notable except the tent. We start with the first of Curt’s list of six possible fixes, and luckily the spare poles from the old tent were approximately the same length. With the major obstacle remedied, the day was free to go hiking. We picked the Wild Horse Canyon to Bell Canyon loop. With a rough start to the day, Muddy Creek will have to wait.
That's me on the left side of the wash as we head into Bell Canyon. I am so glad we did this hike!
I dig slot canyons. This is the best one yet.
We manage to conquer to boulder falls without drawing blood.
We cover the 8 miles in 4 hours and beat the busload of AARP hikers who went the opposite direction. Damn, we’re good.
We get back to camp in the late afternoon and the wind is still howling relentlessly. By now, the exposed full cans of adult beverage have visible sand blasting marks and my face feels the same. Dust has penetrated the tent walls and our bedding is ridiculously dusty. If only the tent pole hadn’t fit; I would be in a motel in Moab…
Curt’s mind starts working (more later on the ‘busy’ camper). The campsites come equipped with an aluminum shelter for shade. Two sides are metal screens. We both contribute to this ingenious plan . . .Curt wants to replicate the grove of trees on his Grandparents farm to block the wind by using our two tarps for the same effect, and I offer the final piece of the puzzle . . . Duct Tape. We could use our tarps and tape to build a wind shelter. Thirty minutes later I have a perfect cubby hole to hunker down for a pleasant – ok, bearable – evening. Curt wins backgammon and we actually cook a meal during the howling winds. Unfortunately, the 32$ guy quits and moves to a hotel before he has to endure a night of listening to our flapping tarps. I felt like a queen with this contraption. Thankfully, Curt was able to harness the metallurgy power of the shelter to make his satellite radio work in spite of the red rocks to our south and I got to enjoy the full 13 innings of that Yankees win, or did the Angels win, it was all white noise, but I kind of like the lady analyst on the Yankees radio feed. We plan to move deeper into the Rafael Swell area tomorrow.
4 comments:
wow. what stories! will you ever get the dust out of your hair? will curt run into the $32 guy again? will the tent survive another wind storm? i wanna skip ahead to the next chapter!
The tent will suffer a worse fate in the coming days, as will we.
WOW...sounds like a real vacation to me!!! One more great adventure...what can I say...he is just like his mom! Hugs and smiles, Nanc/Mom
What is it about AARP hikers being attracted to you? It's a recurring theme! Amazing stories from the road. Kerouac would be proud!
BTW - I love that you may send in your ballots from Utah!!!
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