Being one with the cold...

Arches was under the cover of darkness when we arrived however the moon was a stunning pink and orange, full and on the horizon peeking through the monoliths. We set up our camp again without too much fuss and settled on a cheese and crackers dinner and washed it down with a beer Caleb had been toting with him since San Diego from Ballast Point Brewery, so good. Sleeping turned out to be much more successful with insulation encasing you from head to toes. Even though mine were frozen the rest of me stayed relatively warm and when we woke to a raven approaching our tent, we started moving about to keep us warm outside of our cocoons. We spent the day hiking Devils Garden, a total of 7.2 miles but as to be expected we took detours and side routes to get the best views that was closer to 8 and an exhausting well spent 8 at that. It was breathtaking. The arches are what remains of the cracked sediment resting on an ancient salt bed being worn by water and wind over thousands of years. The arches themselves are the where the wind and water wore right through. Standing next to and under some of the structures makes one feel very small, not only in size but in a lifetime. I will never see the a sizable difference in mine but over time these walls will change shape, new arches formed and old ones will collapse with a likely deafening and terrifying snap. It was Caleb's birthday so we went into town for dinner at the Moab Brewery, with a great selection of beer and assorted gelato flavors. A hot dinner hit the spot after a day's hike and the chill of the night setting in. We decided to get a stove and something to cook with so that maybe in one or some of our camping adventures we can make something hot for ourselves. The general store in Moab offered us a few good components for some moderate camp style cooking supplies and a kit kat bar I just couldn't resist. The next morning we woke up to frost on the tent, making folding it more of a pain then putting it together. We stopped by some of the other pulloffs and sites on our way out of the winding road to catch some other photo ops and then headed into town for a bit before we got on the road. In town I ate my delicious BLT with avocado sandwich at my leisure since a UPS truck had double parked me into our spot.  At dinner the night before we reviewed what it would take to get us to Yosemite. 16.5 hours... so on to plan b...or to making a plan b. Part of the plan we were keeping was heading to Reno to visit a good friend of my family's.  We picked Great Basin NP, right after the Nevada border because it was on the way and this way we could get in our fill of nature. Plus they have caves, something new and exciting for less then any other park we've stayed in. So that's the plan, as far as we can tell. That and spend less money...oye.