moab trip #1

i went to moab last week with one of my friends, cliff. it was SO amazing. the first night we backpacked into the needles district of the canyonlands to a place called chesler park. we got into our campsite right after sunset so the rocks were silhouetted against the sky.... SOOOOOOO pretty! then we hiked to a place called druid arch. that was a really cool arch. while there, we went out to this little mound view-point thing that really wasn't easy to get on... in one of the pictures you might see how exposed the side we scrambled up was.... yes, i did it too... i'll admit, i got a little scared! then we hiked out of the canyonlands and drove to castle valley. castle valley is most known for castleton tower (castle rock). if you've seen mission impossible 2, it's the one tom cruise is "climbing" at the beginning. we climbed 2 of the 4 pitches to get to the top. we decided not to keep going because a) we were no longer on the sunny side of the tower, b) sarah was getting cold... 2 pairs of pants and three long sleeve layers were actually not enough.... c) cliff didn't have the right size cam. BUT don't you worry- we both decided we will be climbing to the top of castleton tower SOMEDAY!! that night we camped at the fisher towers area. those things are HUGE! went climbing on "lizard rock" then decided to drive back to salt lake. the best part of this trip- getting into our canyonlands campsite after dinner.... sarah was hungry and MIGHT have been a little angry about not eating... i complained that the top ramen appetizer cliff had made us was watered down and would be disgusting.... after eating that, two reeses, some granola bars, dried fruit, and two mountain house meals, i could laugh at my predictability. that was the joke the rest of the trip "IT'S WATERED DOWN!!!" the worst part of this trip- matrimoney springs found contaminants in it... the best watering hold in the world has been shut down! i cried a little...