Canyon Lands & Arches National Park

Even though the Dragon and White Rhino have become great friends and travel mates - they would soon be heading in separate directions. We decided to go back north for our final stop together - back into Utah. We entered Canyon Lands national park first - and before we knew it we were walking down Cave Spring trail.

"In the early 1900s, this area was a popular range for sheep and cattle. A large camp was established here, next to a reliable spring, to accommodate the cowboys. Cooking and most activities were performed outside and many items remain, including Dutch ovens, fry pans, tables and other relics. The camp is set against a rock, which alcoves were where cowboys slept. The spring bubbles from the ground in the last alcove. Ancient pictographs can be seen on a blackened wall in Spring Cave."

http://www.utah.com/thingtodo24507.htm

We then drove a few more miles until we spotted a nice area to catch the sunset. We climbed the rock cliffs on the picture above - basking in the sun and reading our books while watching the sun make it's descent below the horizon. The views were dramatic - the red rocks lit up by the firey sun...

We ended our day at Moab, Utah - where we crashed in the parking lot of a local hotel. The next morning on our way to Arches National Park we passed a billboard on the side of the road advertising for Moab Skydiving. I've never skydived and I'm not certain how I would react standing at the open door of a plane 14000 ft above the ground - but I couldn't imagine a way to end the trip on a higher note! A quick call to the Moab Airport and we negotiated the price down to $200 a piece - a lot of money but a priceless memory. It was tough to give all the amazing rock arches we were passing our full attention - as we were inthrawled with the idea that we'd be jumping out of a plane in a few hours!

We decided our time would be best spent hiking to Landscape Arch.

"The Natural Arch and Bridge Society (NABS) considers the Landscape Arch to be the longest natural arch in the world, having measured the span in 2004 at 290.1 ± 0.8 feet, which is slightly longer than a measurement made by the Society in 2006 of Kolob Arch in Zion National Park. Since 1991, three large slabs of sandstone measuring 30, 47, and 70 feet long have fallen from the thinnest section of Landscape Arch, forcing the Park Service to close the trail that once passed beneath it." (wikipedia)

We weren't able to stay very long though - as we had a plane to catch. We hit up an ATM so we could arrive with the proper amount of cash, and then we found ourselves signing our lives away after reading the Release of Liability forms. Outside the winds were kicking up and dieing down in an endlessly confused cycle. Our pilot introduced us to our Sky Dive instructors - who would be taking us on a tandem jump. They said it was borderline safety-wise to jump that day - with no one to catch the shoot on the ground it could send us dragging along the canyon floor unable to depower the shoots - plus the direction of the winds would push us towards the powerlines - and no one wanted a shocking finish...

I was due to leave the guys right after the jump, but decided it would be worth another day; jumping out of a plane just seemed such a perfect way to split ways with the guys, and I didn't know how long it would be until I saw Sam or Buzz again. Our pockets $200 lighter - we went to the Moab brewery to use our free nachos coupon we received from Moab Skydiving and to show the other customers what a proper game of pool looks like. Well Sam is the talent of our group - but the rest of us can hold our own...

During the night we all drifted in and out of conscienceness - our minds struggling with the notion of going against all logic to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. When we awoke gray clouds had moved in and it was much colder than the day before - a call to the pilot was in order to see if we had any window in the weather to jump. He sounded almost as dissappointed as we felt when he told us we should make our way to the airport for our refunds. As irony would have it - after getting refunded we could see a patch of blue skies that was not only getting larger by the minute but it was also heading directly for the Moab airport. We watched the wind vane sloop down due to the lack of wind and we knew we couldn't ask for much better conditions to jump. One final call to the pilot - and the hesitation in his voice was easily explained by imagining him just arriving at home and not wanting to return to work and deal with coordinating with all the instructors needed to make it happen. We would remain on the ground.

Sam asked me to write a note in his book as he has had so many others do - and I knew this would be the end of our trip together. We all said our goodbyes and I sounded the White Rhino's horn as I made my departure from the three guys I have had such an amazing trip with. My journey would continue though - as I don't plan to arrive to Seattle until April 8th or so. 

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