A novel way to appreciate the majesty of the ancient red rock landscape in Utah is to get caught in a thunder and lightning storm while mountain-biking across miles of exposed sandstone.
Ink-black clouds surge towards you past grand old mesas and towering columns, the different layers of purple and red stone picked out perfectly in the dazzling flashes of forked lightning.
Feeling no bigger or safer than cycling ants, we thought we should take cover as we watched the storm's approach across the expanse.
"People forget how dangerous it can be out here. They get lost and die from dehydration. And we have the second highest number of fatal lightning strikes in America." This was the warning ringing in my ears from earlier in the day when Theresa, a wrangler, had led us on a horse ride through breathtaking Castle Valley, near Moab, where crimson cliffs drop vertically into the snaking Colorado River. It's beautiful country, but it can also be tough country.
The sandstone around here is so smooth it is called slick-rock, but it has a wonderfully "grippy" quality that makes climbers feel like Spiderman and gives cyclists superb traction.
Until it rains.
So we huddled in the lee of a cluster of red rock spires, hundreds of feet high, and admired the storm crashing by in its rage. With the flat rock stretching away to the horizon and huge buttes and mesas soaring abruptly from the plateau it was a moment to reflect on the grand scale of our surroundings and the millennia of sculpting by the very elements we were now cowering from.
And it was soon over, less a tempest than a climatic tantrum. The sun came out and dried the slick-rock, the bright blue sky unfolded again and we hopped back on our bikes to explore more of the trail as it wound around the mighty formations.
I became an instant convert to a sport I had never been drawn to before, on the grounds that it seemed overly masochistic. Although strenuous, there was something very cool about biking over the bare rock following a trail of subtle painted dots on dimpled outcrops that glow with warm shades of pink, red and orange.
For the full artery and lung-bursting experience, cyclists pit themselves against the famously steep Slickrock Trail just outside Moab town centre. But there are literally hundreds of miles of trails in the area that take full advantage of the terrain and the scenery.
Moab is best known for being wedged between the stunning national parks of Arches and Canyonlands, which traditionally draw thousands who want nothing more than a drive or stroll through the natural wonders, where fragile arches and balanced boulders defy gravity. A uranium boom town in the 1950s, Moab had to reposition itself after the mining petered out, and during the 1980s it began to attract increasing numbers of mountain-bikers when the sport was in its infancy.
It has been building from there ever since to become a major adventure sports centre - it is rare to see the Colorado River without a raft or kayak coming down it, and the menu of other activities ranges from the macho-motorised end of Hummer off-roading safaris and power-boat trips, via biking, climbing and rafting to the primitive end of hiking, camping and something intriguingly called "slot canyoning".
In this most Republican and religious of states, Moab is a liberal outpost, and the proliferation of mountain-bikers and hikers contributes to the earthy feel, but there's also a good smattering of right-on locals who can be placed on the social scale roughly where hip meets hippy.
It is the kind of place where the health food store has boil-in-the-bag organic Indian meals perfect for a camping trip, and the brew pub and cafes are funky. The local radio station KZMU is entirely powered by a windmill and the town is run by a character known to all as Mayor Dave, who owns a grocery shop and has a photograph pinned above the (organic) coffee machine of himself as a youngster standing next to John Wayne, who filmed classics in the area such as Rio Grande and The Comancheros half a century ago.
The landscape is still used for cinema backdrops (Thelma and Louise, Mission Impossible II, Road to Redemption), but one of its most revered spectacles, Delicate Arch, played an unwelcome starring role in a home movie recently. There was uproar when it emerged in May that professional rock climber Dean Potter had sneaked up to Delicate Arch at dawn and climbed to the top, videoed by his pals. While technically not illegal, it was a violation of the trust that still allows the public to walk unhindered up to this stunning and yet fragile natural phenomenon.
Potter could have had just as great a challenge, but far less publicity, if he had hiked into the remote nooks of Canyonlands for some bouldering and primitive camping.
That's how I spent a blissful few days away from it all (including showers and toilets), getting down with the desert rock vibe, where the sound of cars and crowds is just a memory and the psychedelic rocks form meringues, needles and sphinxes of endless fascination - and tough hiking.
I planned a big slog down Elephant Canyon to Druid Arch - but missed a vital cairn while gazing at the view and ended up, appropriately, in Lost Canyon, with only lizards for company.
Some of the canyons in The Maze area of the park are so narrow they are known as slots. Colorado hiker Aron Ralston earned a different kind of fame to Potter when he came here in 2003. He was slot canyoning - abseiling and climbing in canyons just a few feet wide - in Blue John Canyon when a falling boulder trapped his hand. After six days, he was forced to hack off his own forearm with a penknife to escape. Lost Canyon was significantly wider, but I kept glancing up for flying boulders, just in case.
And after a few energetic days and tranquil starlit nights, I trekked back out, drove back to Moab, right past the budget motels to the only five-star resort in town and, after a bath, collapsed in the spa for a massage.
Then I dined on grilled Black Angus tenderloin with a pinot noir demi-glace at the town's most haute cuisine eatery, Centre Cafe, buoyed up enough to think it will only be a matter of time before I return to tackle the daunting Slickrock Trail.
Way to go
Getting there
Delta (delta.com, 0845 600 0950) flies Gatwick-Salt Lake City; American Airlines (americanairlines.co.uk, 0845 7789 789) from Heathrow, via US hub airports. Moab is 4hrs drive from Salt Lake City. Virgin Atlantic (virgin-atlantic.com, 0870 380 2007) flies non-stop to Las Vegas, 8hrs drive.
Activities
Moab Cyclery (moabcyclery.com) bike rental £19 a day; £40 half-day tour. Horse-riding from Red Cliffs Adventure Lodge (redcliffslodge .com) £32 half-day group trek. Rafting from Moab Adventure Centre (moabadventurecenter.com) £21 half day. Canyon Voyages (canyonvoyages.com) rents camping gear.
Where to stay
The five-star Sorrel River Ranch (+435 259 4642, sorrelriver.com) rooms from £110. Castle Valley B&B (+435 259 496, castlevalleyinn.com) from £53. Rustic Inn Motel (+435 259 6177, rusticinnmotel.com) from £16.
Further information
discovermoab.com, utah.com.
Country code: 001.
£1 = 1.83 dollars.
Time difference: -6hrs.
