Moab Adventure- Day 1

Last night I got back from a weekend getaway to Moab, UT. I would dare call it an adventure excursion. While there ended up to be about 25 people on the trip, I left at 6 am on Friday with four others to get some additional hiking in and make a full day of Friday. My brother Mark and friends Laura, Kyle and Celeste got to Moab at about 10:30 am and went right to Arches N.P. where we hiked to the Delicate Arch and then to the Double Arch. The Delicate Arch is one of the most famous landmarks in all of Utah and is even featured on one of the license plates. It was pretty hot outside, but it is early enough in the season that there are wildflowers galore.

The red Moab landscape, including Balancing Rock.
Hiking to the Delicate Arch.
This is the point where Kyle and I finally found the rest of our group after taking an alternate route. OK, we were really looking for an easier way after taking a break. You see, I am not a very strong hiker. I am coming to terms with the fact that if I want to have an enjoyable hike I need to go at my own pace. This becomes burdensome because I hate to slow people down. I hate it. To the point where I might not even go on a hike because of it (I tend to have friends in Utah that are avid hikers). Luckily, Kyle said he would stay with me. We then promptly lost the trail. Too embarrassed to tell everyone that we got lost, Kyle made up a story about us seeing big horned sheep. As soon as we found the trail and our party saw us, I of course forget the story and spilled the truth. To recover his pride, Kyle told them that he had simply taken me to see the lesser known side view of the arch, at which point an elderly couple was walking by and the woman said to me, "If you follow this path, just around the corner is a very big arch with a beautiful view." She didn't realize that the "side view" of the arch was code for us getting lost.
I made it! Another interesting side note - there was this couple who was sitting under the Delicate Arch forever! People were lining up to take pictures while they just took their time and we were increasingly annoyed in the increasingly hot sun. The guy eventually came running over to me, handed me his camera, and said he was about to propose to his girlfriend and would I mind taking pictures? Suddenly, the length of their stay in the arch became clear, and I was happy to help out in what is now a memorable moment for me as he got down on one knee and showed her the ring. She said yes, by the way.

Even more enjoyable than the Delicate Arch for me was the Double Arch, mainly because of how few people were there.
It didn't look like it would be too difficult to climb to the base of the smaller arch, so I did and then everyone else joined me.
Though some may accuse us of being arch hogs, we spent a good 30 to 45 minutes at the base of the arch, just hanging out and relaxing. Only about three or four other people came while we were there, so we took our time. I loved being able to relax at the base of this natural wonder and look at the blue sky above us. While Laura will hate me for including this picture, she was sprawled out over the ledge taking pictures of the sky and trying not to fall off - too funny! The view from where we sat.
Can you see us? Mark climbed up opposite the arch and took a picture of us at a higher elevation.

After a visit to Slick Rock - a popular site for Jeep rock crawling and mountain biking, we headed to our campsite right on the Colorado River. The view and temperature were fantastic! We set up camp, more of our party arrived, we ate delicious pizza at Zax, and settled in as we rested up for day 2 - river rafting!