Josh and I decided to stay in Moab this weekend to enjoy the things that lazy days have to offer. Like sleeping in, pancakes at noon and reading next to a waterfall. But, we still wanted to gain a little altitude and decided to go for a hike in the La Sal Mountains on Sunday (with the rain coats and trekking poles of course).
Getting Ready to Hike
When we arrived at the start of the hike, it was sunny enough to warrant the sunscreen, which we applied quite liberally to our faces. We had noticed all of the rain clouds when we drove up, but our packed rain jackets gave us confidence that the hike would still be fun. Unfortunately, each loud crash of thunder made the clouds look a little darker and a further hike less fun. Since the metal poles in our hands were making us nervous, we decided to ditch the La Sals and find someplace else to hike.
The Fins at Behind the Rock
Since we had yet to check out an area called “Behind the Rocks,” we decided to head there. After a short drive up a jeep trail, we got out and started a new hike, in the sun. The heat was almost welcome, since we had more than enough water for ourselves, and the pup, Beau, and we didn’t have to worry about the storm. However, as we neared the maze of sandstone fins, we head another thunder crash, from directly behind us. It is a weird sensation when you have nothing but blue ski in front of you, and yet hear thunder, and we were pretty amazed to find that the storm had followed us.
We had 2 choices: either run into the fins to try and find shelter (and hope for a short storm), or run to our car, in the hope that we will make it there before the storm is on top of us. The second option seemed best and the sunny hike ended as soon as we turned around.
Approaching Storm
Since we had been going pretty quickly before, we had to really push with arms and legs to go faster. (Thank goodness for trekking poles!) Too quickly after turning around we saw the first bolt of lighting, and it wasn’t that far away. Since hiking was obviously too slow, it seemed like a good time to try going for a run (my first since surgery 8 weeks ago). Although I was hoping that I wouldn’t see anymore lightning, it wasn’t long before I saw a second, and then a third bolt. They were definitely getting closer, and the storm was right over where we were headed.
Just when I thought I couldn’t run any further, I noticed a pop bottle that I had seen before. I remembered thinking that I should wait to pick it up until the way back, since it was so close to the car. I yelled at Josh to get the keys ready, and ran on a little faster until I saw a familiar blue in the bushes. It probably took two seconds to unlock the car, load up Beau and our gear and jump into safety. Oddly enough, the first thing I thought of when I got in the car, was how Bill Nye the Science Guy had taught me that a car is the safest place to be in a thunderstorm. That was a good show.
Here is another of the Fins. I definitely want to get back there to explore in between them.
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