I saw him heading for us. Just as I found a spot protected from the wind - a little nook behind one of the many arches we hiked to - he made his way toward our retreat.
This arch had been a bit of a beast to get to. The wind gusts made me feel blown about and I wasn't exactly stoked by the ridge we had to cross in those winds. Add to it that we had scaled down the side of a massive rock to reach the base of the arch since we failed to recognize the easier path and that tears were streaming down my face from all the sand being whipped about, and you could say that I was ready to sit down and have some quiet time.
Side note: Arches National Park kind of looks like giant rocks just fell out of the sky and plopped down. The wind has carved out all sorts of images. My brain immediately associated them with sea sponges and submarines but maybe you would see spaceships and Martians.
You might think that given my previous experience in Zion I had learned to embrace opportunities for new stories. You would be wrong. I wanted nothing more than to rest my bones, drink some water, and munch on a bar in my sand-free alcove. But I failed to avoid eye contact - rookie mistake - and was soon enveloped in the standard where are you from, how did you get here, what do you do conversation.
It turned out that this gentleman was the younger half of a father-son duo traveling about in southern Utah. Our little group soon realized that we were all planning on taking the same route back and with that we headed for the trail. The way back was advertised as a mile longer on what the park called a primitive trail as to the semi-primitive trail we took to get to the arch. But as we continued down the path following the cairns, I began to lose track of time and became enveloped in the stories of my new companions. Did you know that technically at noon the sun should be due south? Or that Mexico has sued the US over the Colorado River?
Before I knew it, we were back at the trailhead with our new found friends. Instead of being focused on my feet, I was completely enveloped in the conversation and just simply enjoyed myself. Case in point, I have absolutely no pictures from the second half of the hike. These are all from the way to that last arch. Maybe next time I won't initially be so new people adverse. Just maybe.
notes:
- we set-up camp at devil's garden campground in arches national park. during the winter, it is first-come first-served and we didn't have a problem getting a site at noon on a saturday. the campground is set in the midst of the park so i highly recommend staying there if possible.
- i really wish we had ventured into moab while we were at arches. don't repeat my mistake - the town looks awesome. i did manage to enjoy some wicked brew coffee early on a sunday morning... nothing like waking up to rain at 5 30 am and having to through everything into the jeep. i don't think i have ever been so thankful for a drive thru as i was that morning.