MEA Part 1

MEA....Minnesota Educator Academy......=    wife and kids have days off from school. It's a long haul, but with a full week at our disposal, Utah was our chosen destination. This would be a gear intensive trip with everyone outfitted for canyoneering, mountain biking, and backpacking......5 sets of all that gear takes up a lot of space...but that's how we roll.

 On our way out we did the customary stop in Fruita to ride mountain bikes. We chose the stuff at the Loma exit, because it's an easy on/off, and it's super fun. Thinking it would be simple to just get out and ride was my first mistake. Before we even got out of the a parking lot which took over an hour, G Man tore up his shin on the pedals while messing around with his brothers. Out comes the first aid kit and another half hour wasted. The rest of the ride went well and was worth all the hassle.

This was an official Imperial Venture Corps mission.....eating/multi utensil rules in full effect 

 From there we drove to our jump-off point for the Black Hole the next day. Following the Black Hole was an overnight (supposed to be 2 nights) backpack outing. The hiking was strenuous and absolutely beautiful,complaining was at a minimum and we all had a fantastic time. Our camp for the night was near a large dry fall with a deep pool below. Had it been warmer and not frowned upon, it would have been an amazing cliff jumping swimming hole. Worn out from the last couple days, it was difficult to stay up past nightfall, but the brightest of stars were an amazing sight to behold from our view in the canyon. In the morning we headed out for a day hike to the confluence of the canyon we were in to one adjoining about 4 miles down. Reaching our destination, we decided to cut the trip short, we had achieved our goal and staying another night would mean getting to Moab on Thursday afternoon.

Ruins.....didn't see any foot prints. It was so sketchy getting here I will probably never go back.   

Very large pottery sherds.....yes, it's called a sherd, not a shard 

This was the most impressive piece, what remained was the size of a large serving bowl

not sure what this was, but definitely not natural 

                   

finding this was a an added bonus to a solo morning stroll  

 If you've been to Moab you know why this is important, if you haven't, getting a camp site has become a huge problem. Moab is the launch point for the greatest outdoor playground anywhere, and everybody knows it.When we rolled into town Wednesday night I was disappointed to find the only thing available was a pricey site at a private campground in town......the shower was nice and worth the extra money. First thing in the morning we pulled up stakes and searched for a public camp site, landing a spot at King's Bottom. We were set for the next few days..............

......................................to be continued 

D Rider...........................out