First stop was Moab, about 5 hours sth of SLC, home of adventure sports, mountain biking, 4WDing, gateway to Canyonlands and Arches NPs, and an artists hangout as well. On arrival we had a few hours of daylight, so headed out along the Colorado Rvr to walk out to Bow Tie and Corona Arches.
Next day we headed out to Canyonlands, stopping off at Needles Overlook, which hangs on the rim of the cliff line which defines the Canyonlands NP, then descended into the bottom of the NP to the Needles area. After stopping off at the visitor centre and collecting a map we headed off for a couple of walks. These trails took us through some stunning country, by towers of red rock and beautiful canyons, but the combination of a lateish start, and a misread of our position on a not very accurate map which meant we thought we were going the wrong way when really we weren't, and a consequent decision to backtrack, in turn meant we ran out of daylight. Result: A very cold night sitting on our arses waiting for the dawn. The temp got down to -6C, so, while we were never in any real danger, it was BLOODY COLD! We snuggled up close and thought warm thoughts. Once we had enough light to walk by, it only took us 15 mins to reach the car, warm up, and head back to our comfy B&B and a warm bed for a few hours. Shitty thing was, we paid $90 to freeze our backsides off out in the desert all night! But we learned a good lesson.
