Miles: 10.9 miles hiked, 17.4 miles biked Steps: 28,999 Vertical gain: 854 feet Liquid consumed: 128 oz. Wildlife: Rabbits. Not much wildlife! Faith in Humanity: Mia, my friend from the Pacific Crest Trail is letting me crash on her couch and it’s awesome!!! Thank you! What a day! Last night my campsite was very windy and I struggled to sleep. I did have cell service though so the lack of sleep made me look for new shelters, haha. Tarps are definitely not the most ideal for windy conditions! Oh well, sometimes that happens... Absolutely incredible scenery coming into Moab. I hiked some on the Porcupine Rim Trail but was on the road most of the way. Incredible! Red rocks, flat rocks, rocks that look like fins, sand dunes, deep canyons, beautiful sunrise and more! I got a call from a reporter from the Moab Sun at 8am and we chatted for about an hour about Walk The Parks. I’ll be in the paper next week apparently. Pretty cool! I walked about 11 miles and arrived in the outskirts of Moab! Very exciting. Such a beautiful town and more beautiful surroundings! My friend Mia’s house, where I’ll be staying, is actually literally directly on the trail! I walked the only road I could possibly walk and boom, her house is right there. So cool! I let myself in and took a shower and did laundry, huge luxuries after 8 days in the wilderness! The shower felt amazing! I met one of Mia’s roommates and she explained that 17 people live here. That’s crazy! She also said I could use a bicycle to do errands around town and go to Arches National Park! That’s awesome! I finished air drying my clothes a bit and got on a bicycle. First stop? An all you can eat restaurant! I had probably 14 pieces of pizza, a big salad and a big bowl of soup. Quite tasty! Truly an absurd amount of food! I also met a guy on a mountain bike tour for a couple weeks who actually issues backcountry permits at Grand Canyon National Park. We hit it off and he said he’d try to help me with my permit as I get closer! So awesome, thank you! Extremely full, I got on the bike and ride down the Main road the onto a bike path for a couple of miles. Beautiful towering red rocks were all around and I was feeling good! I took some photos in front of the Arches National Park sign and headed to the Visitors center. I met a cool Ranger who had hiked the AT twice and was super cool. I tried to find a ride into the park but was unsuccessful. Luckily with my rental car I did a hike in the park last week to Delicate Arch and I think I’m coming back in a couple of days to explore more. It’s unfortunate to not explore quite a bit more, but there are a number of challenges: campground in the park is closed, backpacking is currently on hold, there’s a long road to access any hikes, etc. My goal, however, was achieved in reaching the parks border by human power, so all is good! I’ve also been to Arches several times in the past. Moral of the story: YAY, park number 7!!!! 40 more to go! Next, I did some errands like buying groceries and some beer and wine for my hosts. Beer is ridiculously expensive in Utah! Kind of insane! Next up I met up with Mia and met her 17 roommates! Crazy! It’s not that big of a house either. They are all here with a program where they build 3 houses in 5 months! The houses are then sold to locals here in Moab as affordable housing. Pretty cool. Mia cooked up a very tasty meal for her, Bibi, and myself. It was really really good! And beautiful and colorful! Seriously so good, thank you very much! We hung out for a while and drank some beers and wine. Looks like the plane flight is set up for tomorrow morning and Mia gets to come with me! So awesome! Really excited. Thanks so much for all the hospitality!