Sandy to Moab, 8/27

8/27/15

We drove down from Sandy to Moab to spend the night camping and rent bikes to try our hand at mountain biking. The area was beautiful as we came into town. Moab seems like a fun place to visit, a Mecca of mountain biking and rock climbing. Not a place to live necessarily, but a fun playground. The landscape changed from desert scrub into striking rock formations. We were able to find a place to rent bikes for the evening and through the next day and after making arrangements we headed off to find our campsite.

After setting up our campsite it was time to get out of the sun. The direct sun and lack of tree or any other coverage left one sun exposed and it got hot fast. But we went to pick up our bikes and headed to Dead Horse Canyon. It gets its name from being a bluff with a narrow neck that cowboys would herd wild horses up onto and trap on the bluff. A corral was built and after running the horses onto the bluff they would be trapped with a 2,000-foot drop down to the Colorado River. However, when you forget to water your horses you go from horse trap canyon to dead horse canyon real fast. The view from the bluff looking over the valley was spectacular. It was time to try our hand at mountain biking to see what we would be able to tackle the next day. After a hesitant start, comfort on the bikes increased quickly.

We returned to the campsite supplies in hand and quickly realized that ants were everywhere. Not really swarming, but just walking over everything including your feet. But other than that it was a nice site and a long day. As we lay down in the tent to watch Condorman and sleep I heard a slight rustle in the grass outside the tent. It was hard to tell but it felt like it was slowing getting closer until I could hear the rustle again, expect this time it was the rustle of movement against nylon, not grass. Something was outside the tent. And from the sound, I was (and still am pretty sure it was a snake). Next thing I new I felt something leaning against me through the tent. Just sliding along outside the tent, really, really slow. It freaked me out. Snakes don’t really bother me, but I wasn’t sure if we were in rattlesnake country or not and didn’t want to find out. After a long pause I was sure it was gone and as I moved, it moved right there against the outside of the tent. It felt like hours, but probably 30 minutes later either it moved on or settled in and I was able to sleep. Marina wanted to investigate, but I felt that I would sleep better telling myself it was nothing and would be gone in the morning than learn it was something. The rest of the night was uneventful but brutally hot and stagnant. I’m not sure if she was braver or I was more prudent, but either way it was gone in the morning.