moab rim, reversed (sort of)

I won't say that it was nice weather on Sunday, but the rain did cease long enough for the three of us to get our Moab Rim hike in.  When we got to the trailhead parking lot, we (and a trail runner and another hiker with a dog) had to wait to pull in because a crew of jeepers from Alabama Nebraska was staging, taking up the whole lot and blocking the entrance.  We non-jeepers were a little annoyed but were able to pull in when the group started up the 4x4 trail.

Low cloud ceiling

We went up the Stairmaster hiking trail (to looker's right as you go up) to stay out of the way of the jeeps but we needn't have worried.  They were very slow, some of them getting hung up on obstacles almost immediately, and we soon outpaced them.  Although we quickly warmed up (that trail is very steep), the air was cool and smelled clean, damp from all the rain.  At the top, we caught up to the other hiker with her dog - a medium-sized lab with striking coloring - and Milton managed to entice the lab into a quick game of chase while we humans chatted.

H heading down into the wash

We caught up to another couple of hikers just before the trail split - they didn't have a dog but admired Milt's spotted paws - and then we went left, doing the wash for our outbound.  There were plenty of puddles for Milton to drink out of and the sand in the wash was sticky/muddy in places but we didn't see any ephemeral waterfalls, even though we thought we might.

40 lb. dog for scale

We did see a new-to-us arch up on the wall as we headed down into the wash, the colors of the rock somewhat muted in the flat, grey light.  We had the outer portion of the hike to ourselves - no coyotes this time - except for that trail runner who passed us as we were heading back out.  When we got back to the big ramp of the Moab Rim trail, overlooking the Colorado River, we started coming across quite a few other hikers.  We also encountered those Alabama jeepers who were making v  e  r  y  slow progress.  They smiled and waved at us as we went by, however, so I guess it's the journey and not the destination that matters.  That being said, when we arrived at our destination (the car), it started to rain again so I was glad that day's journey was over.

Hike stats:  5.51 miles; 1:59 hrs./2.8 m.p.h. moving average; 2:15/2.4 overall; 1,470' feet of elevation