Uh oh. Time to leave!

To bed we went, with stars a blazin. Then a few hours before dawn, the sounds of light rain woke us in our tents and tarps. No problem, it was pretty light. With the first hint of light, came harder rain, mixed with snow. Then it rained harder still. I heard the sound of opening and closing car doors. Ummm, I know what this means. Suddenly, the skies let loose. And Tom comes to the tarp entry. "Ah Ram...I'm getting out of here while I still can. meet you at the pavement." Seemed smart. I loaded everything into my sleeping bag and wearing only a rain jacket and bunny boots (Ahhh, the flasher days!), I sprint to the car. I hit the slickrock and it is a frozen slushy. Slide, but don't fall. Umm, interesting out here. 2 more trips to the tarp to take it down and stuff it soaking wet, into the bag, Ryan is scrambling in the background, and I say "see ya down the road" and the race is on to reach the safety of asphalt. At first and at high altitude, the roads are fine. In the middle a little soft in the middle. Lead foot Ryan flies by. The low roads of the San Rapphie Desert are soft. Real soft. Don't slow down, don't stop! Ahhh, Temple Junction pavement, in a downpour. With windows cracked down a bit and stupid smiles on our faces, the call goes out for Arches! We decide to meet downtown.

Freezefest? I thought you said Grease-Fest!

As we reach the Arches area, the weather clears off a bit and I wait for Tom and Ryan at the entry to Arches, thinking, "now is our window of weather" Tom agrees. Ryan is no where to be found. Thought he was behind, but ole lead foot must have passed us. And a good thing. This window of weather turned out to be pretty small and we would have gotten clobbered. He saved us and himself from a soaking. Off to a diner where we shared, maps, stories and beta, while the heavens let loose a deluge. The street drains and curbs ran mini floods down the street, while the very happy waitresses continually refilled Tom's coffee cup. Then around Noon, it let up. We looked at each other, that stupid smile again and off we went to the park. The destination for the day was the Upper Courthouse, a 1/2 day mesa top hike, with awesome views and surprising little hidden corners and climbs.

Ram leading the way to Arches in the rain.

Yeah, let's hike around in the rain! Okay.

Yet another gloomy day in the desert. A view from high above Park Avenue.