It is almost to the point where it has become a tradition…to adventure into the desert landscape on the date of my birth.
Harmony, Connor and I started south after a long arduous week of work, grabbing a bite to eat as we left town. It was after eight when we arrived in Moab, and Harmony kept bringing up the idea of getting some barbecue ribs at one of our favorite spots in town, The Blu Pig. I said that I was tired and still stuffed from dinner, but if she really wanted ribs, who was I to argue. With the restaurant still busy, we waited to be seated and looked over the menu. Then out of the peripheral of my vision a young man asked me “So how is the food here?”. As I turned to reply, I was caught off guard and took a moment to realize it was my son Taylor! Involuntarily I blurted out “What the heck!!!”. Harmony had been secretly arranging the surprise for quite some time with Taylor and I was totally astonished and at a loss for words. Taylor was joined by several of his close friends. We enjoyed some good food, laughs and Harmony had me open a couple of gifts. We returned to our hotel with the plan of rising well before dawn, meet up with Taylor and the gang, and catch the sunrise from Arches National Park.
We left the hotel at 5:30AM in hopes of photographing the sunrise from the North Window arch when the call came in from Taylor. His Jeep had overheated and was broke down on the north end of town. Upon reaching him we discussed the options and limped the Jeep back into town and the nearest gas station to find more coolant. When trying to refill the radiator back up, the coolant came pouring out. He made a phone call and lined up a mechanic to work on it at 8:00. And then drove the vaporized coolant spewing Jeep across town and dropped it off. Then piled into the Grand Cherokee and headed to a car rental place so they would have transportation for the day while the Jeep was worked on.
Our plan for after the missed sunrise was to go to the Arches Visitor Center to secure permits to hike an area called The Fiery Furnace. Permits are needed as the park service regulates the amount of self-guided people allowed to enter The Fiery Furnace to 75 per day and must be done in person, no online reservations accepted.
We arrived at the visitor center about 40 minutes before it opened thinking it was best to get in as early as possible to secure the permits. As we waited a group of 7 Chinese made their way to the doors and pressed themselves against the glass. We decided it would be prudent to stand in behind them so as to not lose any more spots. When the doors opened at 9, we rushed to the counter behind the Chinese. They secured their permits and when the ranger asked how he could help we said we needed 3 permits for The Fiery Furnace. He said “Well we only have 2 left and the next openings were for Monday”. Oh you have got to be kidding! Those dang pushy Chinese stole our permits! Oh well, we are resilient… We’ll just roll with the punches!
So we were off to a section of the park called the Garden Of Eden, where Taylor and his good friend Tyler had planned a climb of one of the desert towers there. While the guys got set up and prepared for the climb, I made my way around the base looking for a good vantage point to document the event from a distance to put it in perspective with my wide angle lens and be able to zoom in close with the telephoto. The climb was successful and I got some good action shots.
When the climb was finished we all made our way to Double Arch and the North Window for a few more photo ops. Then we split from Taylor and the gang, planning to meet up with them at Delicate Arch for sunset.
Harmony and I then took a hike back into the Courthouse Wash area in search of an arch that is not found on any of the park service maps called Ring Arch. The hike was a relatively easy 3 mile round trip and fun to find one of the seldom visited arches.
After the hike we went back into town to have dinner at the Moab Brewery where we gorged on some pretty amazing burgers before the hike up to Delicate Arch for sunset.
The view at Delicate Arch is one that never ceases to amaze and this day was no exception. Being the weekend, it was pretty crowded with folks trying to get their family photos in under the arch. But as the sun was casting its final warm rays on the arch, I was able to capture a few shots without any people in the frame. The hike back down in the dark by headlamp was fun… and so ended another memorable day at Arches National Park.
On Sunday, we had breakfast burritos with Taylor at a local eatery. And then spent a couple of hours watching them climb some of the cliffs along the Potash Road next to the Colorado River. Fun to watch and got some great action photos!
It was a very memorable birthday weekend in Moab, made even more special by the surprise visit of Taylor!
