Getting Lost

NOTE:  This post was written on Thursday, June 18th but I didn't have good access to internet at that point.

---------------------------------------------

When you've managed to stumble directly into the heart of the unknown - either through the misdirection of others, or better yet, through your own creative ineptitude - there is no one there to hold your hand or tell you what to do. In those bad lost moments, in the times when are advised not to panic, we own the unknown, and the world belongs to us. The child within has full reign. Few of us are ever so free

― Tim Cahill, Jaguars Ripped My Flesh

I got lost today and had a few moments of panic.  It was fantastic!  It was in Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. 

These towering rocks keep watch over the
road into Arches National Park

Let me step back a bit first and say that Moab was perhaps one of my favorite stops on this trip.  To get there, you leave the comfort of the well-worn Interstate 70 and turn onto US 191 which is a small, two-lane highway that feels like it is taking you into the heart of nowhere.  It stretches desolate and lonely away from the traffic of the Interstate and will lead you to question if you really are on the right road.  At least that’s the effect it had on me as I drove south away from the steady flow of cars.  As you approach Moab, the sides of the highway begin to rise up in tall, crimson cliffs that are carved into bizarre towers that seem to watch you warily as you advance on the small town through the dry heat (it was 105° when I arrived).  The entrance gate to Arches National Park is at the foot of the guardian cliffs, and the road twists back and forth sharply up to the top.  Being so close to them, it’s difficult to get a good glimpse of their impressive height and stature, but once you get to the top you are treated to a fantastic view of the valley below.  The road through the park then takes you past even more towers of red stone that have been twisted and carved into dramatic formations over millions of years.   As I passed through the park, I wished that my van had a convertible top so that I could get a better view of the unique structures.  I found myself continuously leaning forward onto the dash, wrenching my head upward to catch glimpses of the full height of the towers around me.   I was on my way to hike through an area called Devil’s Garden at the end of the park, and amazingly I made it the full 16 miles through the park without running off the road while gawking at the scenery.

It was at this point that I realized I had lost the trail

The hike through Devil’s Garden was listed as being a bit over 7 miles and strenuous, and I was looking forward to getting a workout from it.  I thought that I’d get an early start on the trail to avoid the heat and some of the crowds, but when I arrived at 7:45am it appeared that lots of other people had the same idea.  The parking lot at the trailhead was bustling with cars and people rubbing on sunblock and putting on hats and hiking boots.   I quickly got my water pack on my back, put on my own sunblock and bug repellant, and made my way to the start of the trail.  The first half-mile or so was really not at all strenuous. It consisted of a wide, flat gravely path that meandered alongside some tall red cliffs.  There were all kinds of people on the trail: families with young children, couples holding hands, a boy scout troop, and even several people who appeared well into their seventies or more.  As I made my way through the crowds, I heard all kinds of different languages being spoken; German, Italian, Spanish, and Mandarin were the ones I recognized, but there were several others that were unfamiliar.  It was great to see so many different people enjoying the park, but I secretly wished that they would have been there a little later in the day.   Not too far from the start of the trail, the first arch was visible. It was called Landscape Arch. Nestled up against the side of a hill, it was a thin, delicate arc of red stone that stretched a couple of hundred feet between two more formidable rocks.  It was difficult to get a good picture of it as so many people were standing at the bit of trail in front of it, gawking and snapping pictures.  With a little patience I managed to get a few clear pictures of it before heading further down the trail.

After 30 minutes of wandering in the desert,
this was a very welcome sight!

A short ways past Landscape Arch, I saw a sign that said “Primitive Trail” and which warned hikers that it was a difficult, poorly marked trail.  No one was heading down that path, so I decided that was the route I was going to take.  It started with a scramble up a thin ledge of stone.  Getting to the top required a little bit of hands-and-feet, but it wasn’t too bad at all.  Once I reached the top, I turned around and took in the view of the stone I had just climbed up, the sandy, crowded path at the bottom of it.  “There will be no whining children or old ladies on this trail to slow me down!” I thought to myself.  I brushed my hands off, twisted back around and took a moment to figure out where I was going.  The land in front of me was covered with red dirt, speckled with small shrubs, and mottled with rocks of all sizes.  In the distance, I could see tall, vertical spines of stone sticking up from the ground.  There was no discernible path, so I chose a direction that had the fewest amount of trees in the way and walked through the desert.  As I got further along, I realized that I was no longer on any sort of trail at all, but the scenery was incredible!  I was alone among all the interesting rock formations, plants, and critters that scurried along in the dirt.  I climbed up a few of the smaller formations and got a good glimpse of my surroundings. The only footprints in the dirt leading up to the rocks were mine, and I couldn’t detect any other hint of a trail.  It was exciting—I was creating my own trail through the park! 

This is what people come to Arches National Park to see

Eventually I came to several tall rock structures that I couldn’t get around and I had to backtrack a bit.  I walked back, past my footprints until I found another semi-clear line of dirt through the shrubs and rocks.  I walked along, enjoying the silence and the feeling of having the park to myself.  There were several more of the vertical rock spines, and I climbed up one of them.  On the other side, it dropped off sharply and went down a gravely cliff.  It was at this point that I began to get a little nervous.  While it was indeed nice to have a “trail” to myself, I had a few brief images of headlines mentioning a lonely lost hiker in the desert who foolishly went off the established path and ended up lost or stuck and being forced to chew his arm off in order to get free of some fallen boulder.  I wondered if I should go down the gravely cliff or turn around and try to find my way back.  Suddenly, I heard some voices ahead of me down the cliff.  They actually were a bit welcoming even though I had wanted to get away from the crowds.  I decided to go on forward, thinking that maybe I was actually on the “primitive” trail.  I scrambled down the rocks and found myself in a narrow crevasse between two of the vertical blades of red rock.  A short ways ahead I caught sight of a couple cautiously working their way further into the stone valley.  I called out to them, “Hey! Is this the primitive trail?”

A woman in a red floppy hat turned around and looked up the path at me.  “I don’t think so.  I think we’re lost also,” she laughed. 

“Ok, great! So I’m not the only one!”  I felt a little bit re-assured. 

See how small that guy looks?

“We think the trail might be up ahead, though, just around this big rock.  We’re going to try to see if we can find it,” she yelled up to me, her voice echoing off the stone walls.

I looked further down the valley, and I didn’t think that it led to anywhere that I wanted to be.  I didn’t want to end up becoming a headline, so I decided not to follow them.  “Ok. Good luck!” I shouted back, and waved. 

I turned around and made my way back, and eventually found the main trail.  It did indeed get to be much more difficult than the flat, sandy path at the beginning, and the crowds on it had thinned to a small trickle of people.  I was happy to have the sense of adventure with the comfort of at least a few other people who were there with me as well.  At least I knew that if I got stuck, there’d be someone else there who could chew my arm off for me if needed so I wouldn’t have to do it myself.