Moab

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Recap of the Best Year of My Life

If I measure 2016 by the one yardstick that matters to me, how much I travelled, it was the best year of my life. That’s hard to reconcile with how horrible the year was to the world in general, but it’s my truth.

This was a rare year of my life where there was enough money to do what I wanted to do. I prioritised paying for the big stuff, like making sure I had a roof over my head, could get from point A to point B, and that I stayed healthy. I savoured the little stuff I could afford. I refused to be a glass half empty person and bemoan that I couldn’t do X, Y, or Z because of a tight budget and instead celebrated that I was wherever I was at that moment.

I covered so much ground this year that you might have forgotten where I started. So here’s my 2016 travel retrospective.

January started in Mazatlán, Mexico. It was the second year of my life starting there and the novelty hadn’t worn off! I spent many hours cantering on a beautiful tropical beach, a weekly ritual that made me feel like the richest and luckiest woman in the world.

The lagoon at the Isla de la Piedra botanical gardens.

The lagoon in Mazatlán’s Bosque de la Ciudad.

February brought me to Mérida, in the Mexican state of Yucatán, on a scouting mission in anticipation of possibly moving there!

I saw ancient Mayan ruins!

The Mayan ruins at Uxmal.

The Mayan ruins at Uxmal.

March had me discovering the wonderful botanical gardens right in my backyard on Isla de la Piedra.

The lake at the heart of Isla de la Piedra's botanical gardens.

The lake at the heart of Isla de la Piedra’s botanical gardens.

April found me seeing Monument Valley…

Monument Valley

Monument Valley

…and exploring Arches National Park…

Landscape Arch, Arches National Park

Landscape Arch, Arches National Park

…and the town of Moab, Utah.

May took me to Cody, Wyoming…

downtown Cody, WY

downtown Cody, WY

…with plenty of time to explore the Center of the West…

Sacagawea at Center of the West

Sacagawea at Center of the West

… and a Japanese internment camp…

Heart Mountain Interpretive Center

Heart Mountain Interpretive Center

… before going home to Haven…

Sunset at Haven, May, 2016

Sunset at Haven, May, 2016

… before getting on a plane and technically visiting my last Canadian province.

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So June took me to London, England (really!)…

London from the St. Paul's Cathedral

London from St. Paul’s Cathedral

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… and to Bulgaria!

Malak Izvor, Bulgaria

Malak Izvor, Bulgaria

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July took me on two trips to Sofia, Bulgaria.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia

August took me to Plovdiv…

Plovdiv from Nebet Hill

Plovdiv from Nebet Hill

… and across Bulgaria in a Chevy to Nessebar…

Old Nessebar, Bulgaria

Old Nessebar, Bulgaria

…to Soviet ruins…

Buzludzha

Buzludzha

…Veliko Tarnovo…

Tsaravets Fortress, Veliko Tarnovo

Tsaravets Fortress, Veliko Tarnovo

…the scenic town of Teteven…

Teteven

Teteven

…Prohodna (Eyes of God Cave)…

Prohodna (Eyes of God Cave)

Prohodna (Eyes of God Cave)

…the Etropole Waterfall…

Etropole Waterfall

Etropole Waterfall

…and a the magnificent 15th century Glozhene Monastery.

inside the Glozhene Monastery

inside the Glozhene Monastery

September saw me quit Bulgaria for Serbia and finish the month in Belgrade.

Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia

Zemun, Belgrade, Serbia

October found me in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina…

Sarajevo, BiH

Sarajevo, BiH

…Kotor, Montenegro…

Old Kotor, Montenegro

Old Kotor, Montenegro

…blipping through Albania…

an Albanian fortress

an Albanian fortress

…staying out too late in Prizen, Kosovo…

Prizren, Kosovo

Prizren, Kosovo

…not being impressed by Skopje, Macedonia…

Archaeological Museum, Skopje

Archaeological Museum, Skopje

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…ambling through Barcelona, Spain…

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

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… then through Alicante…

Alicante, Spain

Alicante, Spain

… before settling in Almería for seven weeks.

The port of Almería

The port of Almería

November was spent in lovely Almería learning to live in the real Spain.

Pedestrian street in downtown Almería

Pedestrian street in downtown Almería

December saw me in Málaga for a few days…

Málaga from the top of the itinerant Ferris wheel.

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…before jetting off to end the year and ring in 2017 in Amsterdam, Netherlands!

Quintessential Amsterdam scene

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What a journey 2016 was, from getting more and more comfortable in Mexico to becoming a seasoned European traveler!

But the most amazing thing that happened? I was offered my key to Mexico. So my 2017 is well plotted. But before I return to the blistering tropical heat of the Yucatán, England, Quebec, and Haven beckon. So clichéd as the saying is, the best really is yet to come.

Happy New Year to all of you lovely readers!

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Snow is A Four-Letter Word — Into Wyoming

I didn’t sleep as well last night as I did my first two nights at the hostel. I was a little too warm and, of course, I was achey (and forgot to take some Advil before bed). Still, it wasn’t a bad night compared to my normal and I was up around 6:45 — a full hour later than I’ve been getting up. It was wet and miserable out. I just packed the truck, checked out, and went to McDonald’s for coffee (fantastic!) and to do some online stuff, including firming up my route for today. I decided to head for Rock Springs, Wyoming, as that was roughly the halfway point to Cody. I would do a blip through northwestern Colorado, return briefly to Utah, and then cross into Wyoming.

Over the course of the day, I climbed to over 8,000 ft of altitude. I was not in any way prepared for snow even though I knew it was coming!

I stopped in Rangely, Colorado, after a particularly long climb and descent, to top up the fuel and get coffee. The Kum & Go had the best fuel price I’d seen since Flagstaff ($2.29ish) and they had hazelnut flavoured coffee, which was such a treat! I usually put in hazelnut creamer, but that’s sweet. With the flavour-infused beans, I get the hazelnut taste without the sweetness. This was a very good day for coffee!

Some time later, I paused in Vernal for lunch and to book my hotel in Rock Springs. I decided that since I would have spent 80USD on the last two nights at the hostel, I was going to spend that at the nicest hotel I could get for that price for one night in Rock Springs. I got a deal on a room at the Quality Inn, which is high end by my standards. I get the room, good WiFi, a full breakfast, and a free cocktail! The room also has a lovely armchair and ottoman. I may never get out of this chair again. 🙂

Coming into Rock Springs was scary since there was black ice under slush on the road! I had to slow to a crawl. Moya has really good quality winter tires, but she really doesn’t handle well in slick conditions. I was really glad to arrive. Vernal had felt too early to stop, but by the time I got to Rock Springs, I was past the point where I would have wanted to quit for the day because of the tough driving conditions the last bit.

For some reason, I actually took pictures today!

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Impressions of Moab, UT

Moab didn’t make a very good first impression because of the insane cost of accommodation in the town. I expected a hoity toity resort town like West Yellowstone where even McDonald’s jacks up its prices. But my experience in Banff taught me that even such towns can be full of good surprises.

Moab is basically a swell in the highway, with most of the businesses along the main street. In the shoulder season, driving around town hasn’t been an issue, including making copious left hand turns onto the main street and finding parking. But I can imagine that in the height of the summer season, traffic and parking must be difficult.

The town is nothing to look at, from what I’ve experienced. What makes it special is its backdrop of red hills in one direction and snowcapped mountains in the other. The architecture is very ordinary. I didn’t feel a strong urge to take any pictures. I could be in Anytown, USA.

Two very positive things have stuck out for me.

First, the locals are incredibly friendly and welcoming. I’ve been to so many resort towns where the locals seem to resent the tourists that run their economy. Everyone in Moab I’ve spoken to has been very kind, very helpful, and very welcoming — genuinely so.

Second, I can afford to eat out in Moab! I have no idea if prices go up during the summer, but right now, in late April, there is something for every budget. Regular old diner food is exactly what I’d expect to pay for the quality and portion I got at the Moab Diner. Pad thai at Singha was a little pricier than I normally pay, but not significantly so. The only reason I had an expensive meal there is that I splurged on the beer.

Tonight, I had dinner at Sabaku sushi bar, a real splurge only because I’m cutting my stay here short and saving on accommodation. I have had sushi literally all over the US and Canada, in big cities and small. Who would have thought Moab would have really excellent sushi at average prices? $22 before taxes and tip got me two rolls (one large, one small) and a miso soup. If I had been in less of a mood for a splurge, I could have stuck to the happy hour menu and had even more food for the same price or spent less. I sat at the bar and watched my sushi-ya prepare my meal with real care and attention, so it wasn’t just dinner, but an experience.

I didn’t spend much time at the grocery store, but the few things I bought were very reasonably priced, including three large Fuji apples for just 99 cents. Other stores do jack up their prices, though. I priced trekking poles at Pagan’s and the ones I wanted were $20 more than the cheapest price I found online, so I passed.

It’s a shame accommodation in Moab is so terrible. At least, there’s the Lazy Lizard. Even if you’re not a hosteling kind of person, please consider them first as they are the only accommodation in Moab that keeps its prices reasonable while still trying to provide a lot of value. I’m not happy to be in a hostel, but I can separate that from my experience here, which has been very positive. My cabin is very comfortable and conducive to a good night’s sleep (comfy bed, dark, quiet, warm) and the ladies’ bathroom is spotlessly clean. I resent paying 39USD and not having my own bathroom, but they could charge as much as 60USD or even 75 a night for the cabins and still have the best bargain in town!

I’d say that Moab really hasn’t made that much of an impression on me. People don’t come to the area for Moab, but rather for all the outdoor experiences around.

Fun fact: sixteen years ago I worked at a bookstore and a guy came in asking to order a book on mountain biking  Moab. After the order was put through and he’d left, the owner turned to me, wide-eyed, and asked, “What’s a Moab?!” I can’t believe I remember that!

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Cairn Spotting: Hiking Arches National Park’s Primitive Trail

Today was what I hoped my Arches experience would be! Perfect hiking weather (not too hot and just enough cloud cover) and great scenery!

I went to bed super early with the plan to breakfast at McDonald’s so I could use their wifi. By the time I’d dressed, packed my lunch and day pack, and made it down the road, it was just past 6:00. I caught up on some online stuff over some hot cakes and sausage (knowing I would work that off soon enough!) and a really good cup of coffee.

This would be my last day in the park since tomorrow’s forecast is cruddy, so I could fit in only one major hike. A popular one is to the famous Delicate Arch, but it just looked like an uphill slog to me. The most difficult and longest hike in the park, the Primitive Trail, sounded like a lot more fun and would let me see several arches that are not otherwise accessible. I’d spoken to someone at the visitor’s centre yesterday about the difficulty level of the hike and told him I found Angels Landing at Zion easy. He said that absolutely nothing in Arches compared to that hike and that the Primitive Trail would hardly be a challenge for me as long as the weather was good (rain would make the trail slippery). So that helped cement my decision.

I drove straight to the Devil’s Garden parking lot, arriving around 7:30. It is about a half hour drive from Moab to that parking lot! Since I was early, I was able to park right at the trailhead.

The hike did end up being pretty easy except for one section. You have to follow cairns to make sure you stay on track and I had bits where the cairns were pretty far apart, so I was moving with caution to make sure I didn’t get lost and could get back to the last cairn I’d spotted.

Well, I got to the first fin I had to cross and the cairns were confusing. I crossed a very narrow and steeply sloped ledge on my butt to find myself faced with a very steep climb up. That just didn’t seem right. It look positively impossible and I felt a flutter of something I hadn’t really faced at Zion: fear. If that was the trail, I was done. I started to scoot back across the ledge and realised as I looked at the sheer drop down that I was truly afraid, bordering on terrified, and coming back across felt like it took forever. I was really glad to reach a wider section where I could get back on my feet. I’m glad to know my survival instincts work and that I know when to turn back! But I couldn’t believe that that was truly the trail, based on what I’d been told.

So I took a look around and up and finally spotted a tiny cairn at the top of a steep slope of bare rock! The second cairn I’d spotted that I thought was telling me to go across the ledge was actually telling me that this was a good spot to step up onto the first foothold of the slope. From there, I could just barely see the other spots where I could get decent footing and pull myself up. This wasn’t quite as bad as watching someone climb a vertical rock face without any equipment (think Kirk at the start of “The Final Frontier”) since I was on a slope, but there was zero room for error as it was a tumble straight down if I slipped.

I got a comment yesterday about my footwear that I want to address. I wear Keen Newports on hikes like these. They are a cross between a sandal and a closed shoe and the absolute perfect thing to wear for scrambling around sandstone. The guy at the visitor’s centre commended me for having them and said that they are his favourite shoes for hiking in Utah parks. The sandstone can get slick if there is sand under your shoes and the way the Keen tread is made, sand doesn’t really stick to the bottoms unless it’s really wet. They do suck in sand, but I still wouldn’t want anything else, not even proper hiking boots, when scrambling around sandstone. I really trust my Keens to not slip out from under me.

Once I got over the two fins, the rest of my day was rather uneventful. Some bits were harder than others and I had to sort of throw myself up stuff (my knees are black and blue), but there wasn’t really anything that was particularly challenging.

I really liked the spur to Private Arch, where you get to the end of the trail, turn a corner, and there’s an arch!

Dark Angel is a column of dark sandstone jutting out of the northern end of the park and the northernmost thing on the map. So I took the spur there and back, but found it wasn’t really worth the energy I had to expend compared to what was at the end of other spurs. But what can I say, I’m a completist. 🙂

Double O Arch, at the end/start of the primitive trail was pretty anticlimactic. Further down, at the end of a spur, I found my favourite arch of all, Partition Arch.

The end of my hike was the start of the Double O Arch trail, also considered difficult/strenuous. The final bit (first bit if doing the trail in that direction) was a bit of work, but nothing like what I’d experienced so far.

With all the spurs, I hiked a total of 7.2 miles or just shy of 12KM by the time I got back to my truck. I did the hike in just under 4.5 hours, a very good time considering that I stopped to eat and enjoy the view.

I actually still had stamina to do the Delicate Arch hike, but my knees were done. How the damn knees feel compared to how much stamina I have is just incongruous. I’ll just push on through the pain as long as I can…

The trailhead parking lot was very full as I pulled out. Arches is definitely a park to enjoy early in the day. Even if I had decided to try the Delicate Arch trail, there was no parking at its trailhead.

And now, pictures. With blue sky!

I’ll probably head back out on the road sometime tomorrow, but today was so perfect that another day in the park, especially in crappy weather, would be a disappointment!

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A Sea of Rust and Sage: Exploring Arches National Park

I have mixed feelings about Tuesday. I’ll get the unpleasantness out of the way first. The weather was absolutely terrible and I was not equipped to be out in it. While we did get some patches of sun, most of the day was needling rain and slush. I wasn’t too badly off top-wise, with a good rain coat over my fleece hoodie, but sandals and jeans were not appropriate for my bottom half. I spent a lot of time in my truck looking out a amazing views, only running out for brief(ish) hikes during clearings. Last time I checked the forecast for the week, it was supposed to be sunny and in the high 60s to low 70s. The high today was around 50.

And despite this, I managed to spend six hours in the park and take over 200 photographs! Arches National Park is as amazing as I thought it would be!

I started the day after a second good night of sleep in a row. The cabin was super quiet, the temperature perfect (I had to run an oil filled radiator all night and sleep in fleece pants with socks), and it was dark. So when I woke up around 5:45, I was ready to start my day, which including schelpping down the hill to the bathroom in the dark in my jammies. Thankfully, no one else was up. 🙂

I then came back to the cabin, dressed, and put together my coffee stuff before going to the main building to use the kettle in the kitchen. There was only one other person and she was doing her own thing, so I sat at a table and composed my blog post from yesterday. By the time the dorm started to wake up, I’d done my most pressing online stuff and headed back to the cabin to get ready for my day.

I had picked up lunch stuff that didn’t need to be refrigerated, so I was able in the cabin to put together a few peanut and strawberry jam sandwiches (something I can eat several days in row without getting sick of it), a bag of nuts, an apple, and a granola bar, as well as water.

It was about 7:00 when I headed out and just shy of 7:30 when I hit the visitor’s centre at the park. The rain was really starting to come down so I made the decision to just drive the entire park road and visit all the view points without committing to any hiking. I had planned to only do short hikes today anyway and then do a longer one on the second and third days.

One thing I was very disappointed about was learning that I would not be able to do the ranger-led Fiery Furnace hike I was so eager to do. I had checked availability weeks ago for the morning hike you could buy online and they were full. The other option was to show up at the park in person and try to join a hike that afternoon. As I understood it, the afternoon hikes were first come, first served. So I thought that being so early today would get me in. Nope. All the hikes clear to next week were booked. 🙁 I’m just not made for this sort of travel where you have to book six to twelve months in advance. It’s the same thing with the Canadian national parks system.

My tour of the park is below in the gallery. When I was done, coming out of Landscape Arch with needling sleet falling, I’d been in the park for six hours and decided I was done. I went into Moab and found the museum. It’s pretty small, but I learned a lot about the history of the area. Post continued below the gallery.

I went back to the hostel for a rest after and paid for a third night. I think that will be it because today, Wednesday, is the only clear day and it’s back to crud for the rest of the day. Two days in the park is going to be plenty. I’ll decide this afternoon.

Even though I spent a lot of time in the truck yesterday, I also hiked closed to 10KM (it adds up!) and I needed a proper stick-to-my-ribs dinner. I settled on the Moab Diner where I had an adequate hamburger steak dinner at a reasonable price. Service was very fast and very friendly. I can understand why it’s such a popular spot!

Since internet access is dismal at the hostel, even right in the main building, I decided to call it a night early and get up extra early to have breakfast at McDonald’s, where I am now. I’m trying to decide on which of two longer hikes I’m doing today and about to head out. The weather is already lovely at just shy of seven!