With a wonderful season in Colorado behind us, open roads and home lay before us. Before making our journey east, we drove west for a brief tour of Utah’s natural beauty. We spent a jam packed week exploring the myriad National Parks and other wonders that the state has to offer. For the first segment of the trip, we set up a home base in Moab, UT’s Motel 6. The kitties were happy to be out of the car and quickly settled into the hotel. While they lounged around, Bilbo and I hit the parks!
The little town of Moab, nestled down in a rocky valley, boarders two National Parks—Canyonlands NP and Arches NP. Our first morning was spent at the Island in the Sky area of Canyonlands. The weather was not on our side that day, with dark skies, misty rain, and fog; so we did a drive through, stopping at overlooks along the way. With a chill in the air, the park had been left to us and the ravens alone.
As the name suggests, Canyonlands’ main feature is a canyon carved out by the Colorado and Green Rivers. Visitors can travel a road that follows the canyon rim throughout the park, allowing for a good overview.
While we were meandering through the canyons, the fog lifted and we were treated to a distant view of snowy La Sal Mountain on our way out of the park.
With no desire to spend our day hiking in the rain, Bilbo and I decided to move on to Arches National Park. Like Canyonlands, the weather was cool and damp; however, the rain hand ceased by the time we arrived at the park. Encouraged by the change in weather, we began the most popular hike in Arches NP leading to the Fragile Arch. The trail is purposely laid out in a path that keeps the hiker in suspense, keeping the Fragile Arch out of view until the last moment.
Here’s a teaser arch that is seen along the way. It may be neat, but wait until you see the main attraction!
At the end of the trail, you come over a ledge and there it is! The appearance of Utah’s icon is seems to be from thin air, making the trail’s illusiveness successful.
The return hike isn’t too bad on the eyes either. Look at this scenery!
A nice little detour near the trailhead leads to a wall of well preserved petroglyphs.
We were a bit chilly after our little outing, so we cranked up the heat and drove through the park, taking in the varying geological features.
Along the way, we came upon a very short trail for which we just may be able to tear ourselves away from the heater. Sand Dune Arch was a worthy surprise. The sandy trail led between parallel rock walls to an isolated arch.
Sand Dune Arch
I think I may have mentioned that it was a cold, wet day in the desert. Boy was the trail wet!
By then we had taken our fill of the cold, so we continued our tour in the car. Here is a bit of what we saw:
LaSal Mountain…
A hand, can you see it?
Some more arches…
Spires…
And rock walls…
On the way back to the hotel, we made a pit stop at Zax’s for some pizza! We got the Ramon, a classic style pie with meat and veggies. We liked it so much that we returned for lunch the next day to try out their not-so-classic specialties. Bilbo chose the buffalo chicken pie and I got the honey and chicken. Yum!
Before our pizza pie lunch, we spent that second morning back at Arches hiking the Devil’s Garden trail. It was a cold morning, yet again, and the trail was dotted with frozen puddles; however, the wind was not blowing and we were more bundled than te day before. This was a spectacular hike with varied terrain (such as the rock fin Bilbo is standing on), sweeping views, and very specific points of interest.
Devil’s Garden is a popular hike because it leads the hiker to a number of natural arches. Here are the ones that we saw:
Landscape Arch
(the longest arch in the park)
Arapahoe Arch
Navajo Arch
Double O Arch
After our hike and our second visit to Zax’s, we spent our last Moab evening at Indian Creek, a world known climbing area. We originally planned on climbing in a less popular area but once we encountered a huge trench filled with water we realized the Honda was suited for more common trod locales. We headed to the most popular climb in the region called “Supercrack”, one of the most famous climbs in the U.S. and a very pretty one at that. We met some folks from California and climbed with them. It was cold but Bilbo was excited and forgot to tape his hands which resulted in some nasty wounds. The cold and a look at Bilbo’s bloody hands deterred me from any attempts at the cracks.
The RB’s time in the Moab area was fantastic and we look forward to future visits; however, it was time to move on to Kanab. After all, we had to stay on track to make it back to WV for the holidays. Next time, we’ll tell you about Capital Reef, Kanab, Bryce Canyon, and Zion! Be prepared for some more awesome pictures!
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