desert moon

Arches National Park is my new favorite spot. We camped out in the snow and went on all the hikes—and I'm being truthful when I say that we saw every goddamn arch in the whole place. The nights were bitter cold though, and so you'd sit as close as possible to the fire, so that your face and the front of your legs were almost burning, but your back would still have to face the icy night.

Now I'm in Colorado in the middle of a snowglobe and it's quiet and lovely, too.

Slim ridge rocks like rows of teeth.

Look very closely and you'll see a tiny creature in black and white striped tie-dye. That's me.

Petroglyphs. Ironically, they very closely resemble nephew Patrick's kindergarten drawings.

Hole in the wall.

Nerds on a mission.

Canyonlands was lost in the fog, but you still felt the enormity of the place.

Less of a hike, more of a scramble.

Merry Christmas from Arches. Brrrr....

After cold-ass camping, we went east to Colorado and dropped in on Aspen. There, we drank hot toddies with Trish and the Bleiler-Hotells. Whiskey, lemon, nutmeg, honey—everyone felt very warm inside.