desert things

 Once the latest round of weather cleared out, we went to Moab for a long weekend.  Part of what we did was sad, because we said goodbye to two neighbors who are moving to Oregon for their next adventures.  We - including Milton! - will miss Natalie and Lauren and wish them very well.

Parking lot look-out

Part of what we did wasn't at all sad, however.  On Saturday, H did an eight (8!) mile trail run as part of his new trail running program.  In hindsight, that was probably a little long for his knees but at the time, he felt great.  We went to Moab Brand trails for the "event."  Since we know it so well, we figured he could do his run and Milton and I could do our regular Circle O loop and we'd all end up finished at the same time.  And that's exactly what we did.  Milt didn't like splitting up the herd at first, so I had to keep him on leash for a while.  It was a gorgeous day, mostly clear and sunny but cool - perfect for a long run.  H did great and that was the longest he's run since he ran cross-country in high school.

The boys in motion

On Sunday, even though H's knees were a little sore, we decided that a short (no more than four miles) hike would be a good idea, just to get things moving again.  We drove out to the upper Navajo Rocks trailhead and went out the jeep trail towards Wipe Out Hill.  The first part is on a smooth rocky shelf that goes along the red cliff walls.  Then it switches to sand but since it had rained Friday night as we were driving into town, the sand was still pretty well packed and easy to walk on.  

Warm enough for shorts, btw

We had intended to do an out-and-back, turning around once we got to two miles.  Just before the two-mile mark, however, we came to a wash.  We knew there was another 4x4 road to the south of us and H thought that if we walked the wash, we could cut across to that other road and not have to retrace our steps.  I love walking in washes.  You don't have to worry about footprints; you usually have it to yourself; and it's often more interesting than just stomping along a dirt road.  We did have to scramble under a couple of gnarled junipers but H was right and we came to the other road before too long.

In the wash

When we got back to the parking lot - which was busy-ish but not packed, with MTBers, trailrunners and hikers; we'd seen one side-by-side and one jeep out on the trail - we chatted with some folks while Milton made friends with their dogs: Summit, an eleven year old yellow lab; and also Hank, a tall, young border collie who kept trying to herd Milt.