The Most Beautiful Place

May 12th, 2007 at 03:10am Keith Hemstreet 8

Edward Abbey’s novel Desert Solitaire opens with a simple, yet intriguing line. “This is the most beautiful place on earth,” he writes, a short and powerful sentence that grabs your attention and leaves you wondering where this place might be.

The most beautiful place on earth that Abbey writes of is southeastern Utah, a topographical gem of red rock canyons, snow capped peaks and the home of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

As my wife and I drove highway 128, a windy two-lane road that follows the path of the Colorado River, I began to see in the landscape what Abbey may have seen, a beauty so radiant it touches the soul.

A single ray of sunlight ripped through the gray sky setting a spire of red rock aflame.  Rising from the Colorado were steep canyon walls dusted with snow, the snow an immaculate shade of white, serving as a stark contrast to the earth tones that dominate the area – reds and oranges and grays and blacks - the colors of the desert.

Moab, Utah is a small town that appears to survive solely on mountain bikers and visitors to the National Parks.  The funky main street is lined with motels, T-shirt shops, jewelry stores, diners, a bookstore or two, and more bike shops that you can count.

Hungry, my wife and I ducked into Eddie McStiff’s, a pub on the main drag, for buffalo burgers and a couple pints of the local microbrew.  A group seated next spoke about their recent biking adventures.  “There was a thousand feet of slick rock up there,” one guy said. “It was so smooth you could just bomb it!” A middle-aged couple hobbled in and asked for a booth with “extra cushion” on the seats.  Following just behind was a group of guys caked in mud, each still wearing their helmets.

It seemed that almost everyone in Moab had come to bike.  That is everyone, but my wife and I.  We were there for no reason in particular, other than to relax and absorb the serenity of “the most beautiful place on earth.”

We took a short hike through freezing rain in Arches National Park, sipped wine from rocking chairs perched above the Colorado River, and pointed out to one another with awe any light that managed to pierce the clouds and lay its warmth on the canyon wall.

“There are many such places,” writes Abbey, following the opening line of Desert Solitaire. “Every man, every woman, carries in heart and mind the image of the ideal place, the right place, the one true home.”  After only a short visit, it was easy to understand why this beautifully rugged landscape was Abbey’s place, his one true home.

Entry Filed under: Environment, Books, Aspen, Mountain Biking, Hiking