Generally our days start with us waking up, but on day 22 we just stopped lying on the uncomfortable ground and pretending to sleep. We packed up our tent quickly and escaped the site. In order to recover, we went to a coffee shop with free wifi to find a new home for the night.
The Lazy Lizard Hostel offered camp sites for $6. Although we have a rule that we cannot pay for accommodations – the previous night’s camping location had been so terrible that we decided to declare that rule a guideline. (We had talked to six people for couchsurfing, but couldn’t find a single place to stay.)
We went to this new location and of the 25 hostels Maryanne has stayed in, this one was the worst, BY FAR. Aside from the modly kitchen, bizarre nose-picking staff, permanent residents, fungus filled showers, people who would join your meal uninvited and eat your food, a man who prophesied, there was also a definite undercurrent of very serious drug activity. In retrospect, Maryanne should have realized this would be bad from her European accommodation hunting skills. She failed Helen.
Setting up our tent along a fence dividing the hostel and some unknown property, we felt we would be amply protected from the wind. Regardless, we decided to fortify ourselves further. We used picnic tables, a tire, and large rocks to build our fortress. Upon finishing, we looked up and saw a Disney character doll hanging from the tree with a rope. This was only the start.
We didn’t want to spend any more time here than necessary, so we hopped into the car and went hiking in Arches National Monument. The “Dark Angel” hike was a mere nine miles, so we started out on it. The first mile in we saw loads of people – none of which said “hello” or acknowledged us first. (This is a big difference between hikng in the west and hiking in the southeast.) After the first mile and arch, the hikes in sandals disappeared and we only saw a few people as we discovered the other eight arches on this hike.
In total, nine arches!! Both sisters climbed inside one that had a deathly drop off of the other side! This excitement fueled the rest of the primitive hike, which was literally marked as “primitive”
meaning the trail involved 5 to 7 foot jumps down, was all sand and you had to crawl along ledges that if you fell, you’d DIE. Really.Upon returning to the Lazy Lizard we met many unusual characters. We were enticed into playing a game called, “Daily Hand Charades.” It was a little strange, but kept us entertained before venturing in the 35 degree night air to sleep.
2 comments:
I'm glad you didn't post this while you were still there or we'd be sending you money to move you to a new location. Seriously, next time you should post sooner or call and really break the rule and stay in a safer place.
In general I think the US hostels are more hit and miss. We just don't have a culture of hostelling here...so, I'm glad you had each other.
I think we (Shirley, dad and I) may have done the first part of that hike when we were little but definitely turned back at the primitive part. I do remember jumps, ledges and narrow spots though, so who knows, maybe we did do part of it. Dad always liked adventures with some element of thrill.
Anyways hope the rest of your journey has only natural thrills and no more creepy ones. xo
Hey Sarah,
We called Mom and talked about getting a hotel -- but the cheapest in the area was $117! It was outrageous and we didn't feel endangered, just annoyed and bothered. We're pretty good about staying safe. :) See you in a week!
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