June 4-8 Brian and I led a student photography trip to the Moab/Hanksville area of Southern Utah. The two of us and ten students had a great time despite some minor mishaps.
On the way drive we hit tropical depression Roy, (near Roy, Utah coincidentally). The wind and strong rain wasn't too bad, although most of our camping gear was in the back of Brian's truck. We were dealing with it o.k. until one of our windshield wiper blades blew off. So, we stopped, got a replacement blade as well as a tarp for Brian's truck and were on our way. We got into Moab at about 3:00, set up camp and drove into Arches. About the time we got to Arches it started raining, which was o.k., however, it continued to get stronger, winds picked up and we sort of waited around for a while to see if the rain would quit, it didn't. By the time we left Arches, Hurricane Moab unleashed her fury. We got back to camp to find all of the tents flattened, one of the tents ripped to shreds, many of the sleeping bags soaking wet, and the rest of the gear wet and scattered. Fortunately, the students and Brian had great attitudes (I was sort of sour, but tried to remain positive). Everybody chipped in, fixed up camp, and the rest of the trip was great.
If you had asked me the first night if I would ever take 10 students camping again I would have said "never", but after it was all said and done, we had a blast and are planning on doing it again next year. Here are some photographs:
Chris's tent (the one I was supposed to sleep in)
Camp chair, sleeping bags, and stuff
Rock Art Figure, Sego Canyon, UT 2008
North and South Windows, Arhces National Park 2008
Students photographing near Moab
Ceremonial? Markings in Rock, near Moab, UT 2008
Toad near Hog Springs, UT 2008
Little Wild Horse Canyon, UT 2008
Goblin Valley State Park, UT 2008
Petroglyphs, Hanksville Area, UT 2008
