False Kiva

Baby Parkers first desert hike

We spent a while soaking in the views at False Kiva before heading up the trail and back to the car. We made a short hike to Mesa Arch and then hung out at the Green River overlook for an uneventful sunset.  As soon as the sun dropped below the horizon it became windy and very cold so we piled in the car, drove to Moab, and checked into our hotel for the night.

Mesa Arch

Sunday morning I was up early and driving back to Island in the Sky to try and catch a sunrise with Mark, Tyler and Britnee. The light was totally flat and there really wasn’t a sunrise at all.  We made it back to the hotel, rounded up the rest of our group and headed into Arches to hike around in the Devils Garden.  We hiked out to Navajo Arch together as a group then a few of us completed the full primitive loop and we all met up back at the cars.

Next up was a short walk to Sand Dune Arch before the wind and rain picked back up and we headed back to the hotel. Whitney, Tyler, and I headed back into the park for sunset but were skunked yet again.

I lugged my 5lb crystal ball around the entire weekend.

60 second sunset.

Monday morning once again I was up early for sunrise and captured the first decent light of the trip. I waited in the cold for the first light to hit the north window, took a few shots, then drove to the courthouse towers to catch some reflections in the puddles that formed overnight.

We checked out of the hotel then made one last hike up to Corona where we only saw 1 other person on the trail. Gotta love Moab in the winter, it may be a bit cold but the trails and parks are so empty it’s always worth it.

I’ve been working hard on reducing my pack weight over the last year and this trip was my best effort to date. Overnight gear, clothes, food, 2 liters of water, and 10lbs of camera gear for a total of 32lbs. Usually I’m pushing the 40′s with all the junk I haul around so my pack felt super light and I blasted up the trail and soon found myself alone in the upper basin. With lightning in the forecast I really wanted a good campsite away from trees and wide open spaces. I couldn’t find any sites like this in the upper basin so I decided to summit with my pack then descend to emerald lake to set up camp later.

I saw one hiker and a few mountain goats between the saddle and summit. I spent about 10min on top getting my shots and watching the goats then started my hike back down. Once I reached the saddle the lightning started to strike off in the west desert. I set up my gear and took a series of photos and captured nearly 50 strikes in just 12min. I made a few phone calls and checked the latest weather animations on my phone and the storm was headed right for me. At that point I had the choice of hiking down to emerald lake to set up camp before to the storm hit or bail. As I pondering this lighting started to fire off over the Heber Valley to the east, then the cottonwoods to the north. At this pointed I caved and decided to give up and get off the mountain. By the time I reached the edge of the upper basin lighting was 360° around me but still a ways off. I picked up the pace and started running down the trail.

About half way down the large switch back and talus slope I came across a group of hikers also descending off the mountain and one of them had a knee injury. They had already contacted Search and Rescue and were slowing making their way down the trail waiting for SAR to come up to them.

The next 2 hours were amazing with pouring rain, lighting, and echoing thunder. At times I felt like I was running in a strobe light. I reached the Timpooneke trail head soaked to the bone and completely exhausted. I spoke with search and rescue and let them know exactly where I had last seen the people they were looking for. They were not headed up the trail until the lighting calmed down.
As I got changed out of my wet clothes lightning was streaking across the sky in every direction and hitting the summit ridges all over the canyon. I got in the car and took one last shot out my window. I used my 11mm lens that has a 110 degree angle and captured an eye level that reached both edges of the frame… time to go home.