It’s freezing in Moab. Setting up the tent gave me the screaming barfies. If you haven’t heard that term before, it’s the feeling of your hands warming up. As your blood warms your fingers, it hurts so much that your stomach gets upset causing you want to scream and barf. Our tent is monstrous, borrowed from Sierra Mountain Guides. They use it on their skiing and mountaineering basecamp trips. It has two 3-person tents connected by a central kitchen area big enough to stand in comfortably. Great for us, our gear, and our dog, and our friend Martin, a tentless guide in need of a place to sleep.
After the camp was set up we followed a local tip to go for a run on a popular nearby mountain bike trail called the Poison Spider Trail. This winds up down and around on a colorful sandstone track to a mesa with spectacular views of the Colorado River canyon and surrounding sandstone rock towers. After sitting in the car for eleven hours, Wheeler went crazy! Sniffing all the new desert smells, she was in heaven.
Jib jabbing along, Howie and I ran up the trail enjoying the scenery and didn’t bother to pay attention to the trail. We realized our lack of awareness on the return as we kept running on an unfamiliar terrain. Fortunately, we found our way and descended back to the car.
