Ed

"Elder" means something different in Mormon country. And "Hostel", when spoken with just the right accent, can have a homophone.

Apparently some of the folks on the tour, while chatting with the people we meet, have mentioned that we're on an Elderhostel program and received curious stares. I don't know the details -- I'll try to find out -- but the gist is, some of the tour folks have taken to going by the appellation Hostile Elders.

[Today's Photos] Reprieved! We got on the bus, drove to the place where we were scheduled for tonight... and found out they had screwed up. When they scheduled our tour, they forgot about the Daylight Saving Time change last weekend. The boat ride has to take place at night (it includes a light show), so we were told to go away and come back in an hour and a half. That meant 6:30 PM, instead of 5PM, which meant coming back to the hotel at 10:00 or later. Uh-uh. This old man isn't up for that. Ginger, her parents, and I decided to skip the adventure.

We walked down the main street in Moab, found a nice pasta place, and sat at an outside table. A minute or so after we sat, Tony and Gloria walked by and we asked them to join us. They did, and we had a grand time. Tony is our Elderhostel geologist, and also provides our morning dose of humor. He's a charismatic and energetic fellow, and we love his talks. Gloria is his angelic wife. She must have been busy the entire week before the trip: most days -- if we've been good -- she will treat us to homemade banana bread or brownies or cookies. We hear rumours that biscotti might be forthcoming on a later day. We're behaving.

Today was a rare joy. We got to spend the whole day, morning and afternoon, in one single place: Arches National Park. Arches is younger country than Zion, but older than Bryce. Its top layer is primarily Entrada Sandstone, and salt is involved somewhere, and water dissolves it, and the erosion of something something is what forms the arches. At least that's the way I remember it. Can you tell I'm overloaded?

We got a lot of hiking done. First thing in the morning, we did a mile-or-so hike to Delicate Arch. There was some climbing involved -- about 500 feet -- but nevertheless over a dozen Hostile Elders made it up and back. I don't remember why it's called Delicate Arch, so you'll have to make something up. Maybe Spin Dry Arch was already taken. Delicate Arch is the one at right.

Then to lunch, which I managed to skip. (Deliberately. Did I mention that we get fed a lot on this trip?) From there to the Devil's Garden, which has hiking trails to lots and lots of other arches. The most spectacular of these is Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch is probably the most recognized image from Arches: it seems to be used in all their literature. In 1991 someone was videotaping a ranger talk, and without any warning a huge slab fell from under the arch. They caught it on film, and we got to see that at the visitor center this morning. Stunning. In the process of a few seconds, Landscape Arch became much thinner and weaker. It may not hang out much longer. Be sure to see it while you can.

Was that all? Oh, no. After those two hours we went to Double Arch, did a short hike, then to Balanced Rock, then back to the hotel for a few minutes -- and I leave you now, Dear Reader, for that is where this tale begins.

No time to write today. We had a full day at Arches, with only 10-minute jaunts on the bus. We now have 25 minutes to freshen up before dinner and a boat ride on the Colorado, and I've used up 15 of them. But I'll leave you with a question: Who smiles, and why?

Some of the people you meet on the trail never make eye contact. Even if you emit a "Good morning", they won't respond. Others, meanwhile, don't need to exchange words: they'll meet your smile and raise it, beaming a "Hi" better than any words.

The Hostile Elders (more on that later - it's a term of amusement) are smilers. Many are laughers. It's a pleasure to be among this gang. Even when it's overwhelming for me, crowdophobe that I am, it's a great bunch of people.