Moab, Utah

It’s been a dry, dusty and hot few days since leaving Mesa Verde. A small heat wave seems to have washed over southwest Utah and we’ve been caught in it. Amidst the beauty of canyons, arches, bridges, spires, mesas, needles and other water and wind-worn rock formations -- and a side trip to the Four Corners -- we had two unusual experiences. The first was ascending the Moki Dugway. In the 1950’s Uranium mining companies built a road down the side of a steep Mesa so their trucks could reach the valley floor below and their processing plants located there. The plant was just outside the amazing Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods. Leaving those areas to head toward Natural Bridges National Monument, the Moki Dugway is the most direct – and most exhilarating route – up onto the Mesa. Road signs warn of vehicle size, weight and towing limitations. Additional warnings tell of unmaintained roads and speed limits of 5 MPH. The approach to the Mesa is a frontal assault with the road leading directly toward the base of the Mesa. Then the road commences a steep, narrow, winding climb making the 1,200 foot ascent in just a few miles with 4 major switchbacks, two minor ones and a steep drop-off for failure to stay on the road. There is no turning around and limited options to pull-out to let traffic by. What a ride! We were buzzed to be on the road and to successfully make it to the top. In contrast to our delight were a lot of frozen faces on the people we passed who were about to drive DOWN the road. Another incident happened in the late afternoon while camping in the Needles section of Canyonlands. The temperature had soared to 96 F and the baking sun had forced us to take cover under the shade of a nearby tree. We put up the van awning to maximize our shade then set out some maps and papers on the picnic table to study Utah route options. There was a slight shift in the faint breeze that was blowing but we paid no attention. Suddenly, a dust cloud appeared behind the van traveling fast toward us. It was swirling, picking up tumble weeds and sucking fine, red dust high into the air. Before we could react the outside edge of the awning was whipped skyward – like a giant sail - rising high above the level of the van. It only stayed in place because of being attached to the van. But the extendable legs on the outer edge of the awning were now bucking and kicking wildly in mid-air. The violent dust cloud moved over our campsite. Doug quickly grabbed for the flying awning legs to anchor it down and was soon enveloped in sand blasting red dust. Denise, trying to secure the papers on the picnic table by pinning them with her hands and body, was also being sand blasted as the mini-tornado whipped through. We were forced to close our eyes and stop breathing as we could feel dust being blown in our ears and nose as we held on. It was brief but intense. Within 20-30 seconds the awning settled down. The “dust devil” had passed through. In cleaning up, Denise noticed she had as much red sand INSIDE her sunglasses as she did on the outside. It was a short but humbling beating we’d taken from mother nature demonstrating how she can carve and shape the landscape. We had lost three papers in the blast. We quickly scouted around and found one caught in scrub near the campground. But two others were missing. We looked directly skyward. Two loose leaf papers were doing a dance of sorts, flying upward gently and gracefully above our campsite – their whiteness made all the more stark against the clear blue sky. We sat for nearly five minutes watching them as they soared higher and higher – easily reaching 500 feet and probably higher. Two black crows even flew by to check them out. The strange part was their vertical ascent. It was in a somewhat fixed position. They did not drift around in the sky but continued straight upward. There was no red dust to outline the shape of the mini-tornado but it was clear the force was still at work. Eventually the papers seemed to plateau then began a slow drift downward – eventually landing just 100 yards from our campsite. Quite bizarre. To cap things off, that evening at around 2:30am another dust storm hit us. The van rocked and buffeted in the wind. We looked out to see nearby tent-campers securing their sites. As a way to manage the oppressive heat we had left the side window open on our van, next to our bed. In return we were treated to an unwelcome light dusting of fine red desert soil that covered our window ledge, sleeping bags and bed.