Postcard from Moab - My Luck is About to End

Hello from beautiful Moab, Utah. It's Monday, 11/24/08 as I write these words from my very nice hotel room. Yes, I got a little tired of the cold nights and wanted to watch some football, so I found a nice place to stay warm, watch football, write e-mail's and blogs, and process my many photographs.

Here is what I have been doing since I last wrote in Farmington, New Mexico: From there I headed west and north into Utah. I took a 5 mile detour to see "Four Corners" where the four states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet. But it is in the Navajo Nation and they wanted $3 to see it. Of course there is not much to see other than souvenir stands and a marker, so I kept my three bucks and just turned around and headed back into Arizona. From there, I headed west then north towards Utah, going through Monument Valley.

It was an interesting place and I was happy to see it, but again it is part of the Navajo Nation and to see the really good parts, one has to pay a fee to get in. And, for your money, you only get to see part of it. To see the best part of Monument Valley requires a Navajo guide, which of course means a lot more money. The light that day was really bad that day so I was content to see what I saw and continued north on my journey (I will be content to see Monument Valley in John Ford westerns).

I eventually wound up in the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park where I spent three wonderful days exploring and photographing. From there I headed north to here, Moab, Utah, then right on in to Arches National Park which is only about five miles away. I spent three great days there seeing the incredible sights. There will be separate blogs on all these locations, but today I just wanted to catch you up with where I've been lately.

Now, for the future: Today, I am going on a ranger-led hike into an area in the Arches known as the "Fiery Furnace." It is a series of narrow slot canyons that is easy to get lost in which is why I am going with a ranger. Tomorrow, I will probably head a few miles west of here to the "Island in the Sky" section of Canyonlands National Park.

On Wednesday, my plan can best be described as "run like hell," because my good luck with the weather is about to end. It is scheduled to rain and snow everywhere up here on the Colorado Plateau, which covers four states. That means much colder temps and mostly lousy photographic possibilities. I have been really lucky up to this point with sunshine almost every day and temps in the high 50's and low 60's. Nighttime temps drop below freezing, but I have been able to easily survive that. But, it is tough to camp in continuous rain and snow.

The Colorado Plateau begins just north of Phoenix, so my plan is to be somewhere south of there where I can put my shorts back on and see some of the great places in southern Arizona. A week from today, I will be back in Yuma to celebrate a belated Thanksgiving with Eric and Jill (he is off on Mondays and Tuesdays).

I have included two "teaser" photos here: the first being sunrise on the Needles in Canyonlands; the second being Double Arch in the Arches National Park.

I am sad that this part of my journey has to end as there is so much more I wanted to see before the onset of winter weather. Stay tuned for more blogs with details and photos about the great places I have seen.