May 17 – Off to Arches!
I decided to get an earlier start on the 5 hour drive, leaving at 6:30 or so. The drive went smoothly with the exception of some animal delays. I caught the sheep and deer double teaming me on camera, but I did not capture any of the multiple prairie dog smack downs I saw along the way. No kidding – multiple times I had to slow down because two prairie dog kind of things were throwing hands on or right next to the road.
I pulled into Moab around 11:30 and got super lucky with the campsite. This is one of the places I was hoping for things to work out with a first come first served camping sitch. I got the only available spot at my first choice right in the Colorado River – Goose Island Campground. The previous people must have just left since their tag was still in the site, but the host confirmed it was empty, so I definitely snagged that right away. I might be able to upgrade tomorrow to another sight right I. The actual water, but for now being 25 yards away will just have to do.
There were monster lines to get into the park, and they are requiring timed entry reservations between 7 AM and 4PM, so I decided to get creative. I booked a sunset ATV tour (I get to drive), and then did a quick hike on the Grandstaff Trail just down the road from my campground. A moderate hike to a natural rock bridge (because there is water under it). Another absolutely stunning hike, and the perfect amount of time for what I had available.
I am waiting for the ATV tour to start, so more later, but I wanted to get something up in the meantime, since yesterday and this morning were pretty slow as far as new posts.
May 18 – Delicate Arch and Devil’s Garden
I started early this morning to get in the park before the timed entry stuff started, and went straight to Wolfe Ranch to hike up to Delicate Arch. It was overcast and breezy to start, but up at the arch it was downright cold and high winds. And then the rain started. I didn’t hang around very long before heading back down in the drizzle.
Once u got back to the RV I made eggs and hot chocolate for breakfast while listening to the now-heavier rain. It didn’t really seem to discourage people, as they continued to head up the trail to see the arch. After breakfast I drove around a little and ended up at the parking lot for Devil’s Garden, though it was still raining. I sat for a little bit, then decided to get my rain gear together and give it a try. By the time I actually got out the door the rain had stopped, so off I went. I ended up doing the full primitive trail loop, about 8 miles with all the spur trails. Good thing I had the All Trails app, s it asked me a couple of times if I was of course. Yes, yes I was. Anyway, that trail was no joke, but the views were unbelievable, so it was worth it in the end.
I sat in the RV for awhile after that hike grabbing a little food and listening to my legs question my decision-making skills – they hurt – before starting to drive around a bit. While I was at Panorama Point I got a storm warning and got to see a pretty nasty storm move through the area before deciding this poor RV may not be able to handle any more traumatic weather, so I headed down to the visitor center. Next up after that was laundry since it was absolutely pouring and my body was done after the 12 miles of hiking.
I wrapped up the day with meatloaf at Dewey’s, which absolutely did not disappoint!
I am sitting in a side street (in the rain again!) writing and posting these before I head back to the campground to fold laundry and go to bed. Another early morning tomorrow so I can get in the park without any issues.
May 18 – Off-roading = awesome!
Yesterday evening I signed up on a whim for a you-drive off road atv tour at sunset. While the clouds did not cooperate for sunset, the driving was super cool. The videos don’t do it justice, but we were rock crawling and “Mario carting” along a set course for over 2 hours. Some of the ascents and descents felt quite extreme, with me either seeing only sky (where is the trail?) or only the ground in front of me.
We did stop to see some dinosaur footprints, including an Utah raptor (velociraptor essentially) and stegosaurus. We also got to see one of the locals go up and down Hell’s Gate, which apparently causes 6-8 vehicle roll-overs PER DAY!!!!
Anyway, it was incredibly cool, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of my particular atv. It was apparently a direct gear drive, which our guide said made it a bit more “touchy” than the belt driven ones. Oh well. I still had a blast!
May 19 – In and out of Arches
This morning, I was up early again to try and get a decent sunrise in Arches National Park, and did pretty well catching the sunrise at windows or double arches. After that, I drove up to panorama point to make breakfast and decide what to do next. I ended up driving back up towards Devils Garden and hiking Sand Dune and Tapestry Arch, and once again got pretty windy and parked so I had to put my Tilly hat into sport mode a couple of times.
I ended up doing the full loop winding back through some narrow slots with fins to the left and fins to the right of the trail.
But overall another amazing hike in this one not too long but just right for after breakfast. After that, I headed into town to pick up a package that my cousin Clay had managed to send to me and was absolutely floored by the amazing thoughtfulness and generosity. As Clay noted, time is our most precious commodity, and the last couple of weeks have certainly helped me realize new ways in which two get the most out of the time available.
I did a quick round of grocery shopping, including some Starbucks and then headed out to drive along Colorado River. I ended up stopping to hike, Corona Arch and Pinto Arch, which makes a relatively short, but absolutely incredible. It seems that I had a bit of a theme today as while I was at windows this morning. I saw what appeared to be wedding photos being taken, and at Corona arch this afternoon I saw what was the most definitely engagement photos being taken. I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit as I was walking by them andthe young woman stared at her finger and said excitedly it’s just so sparkly and I couldn’t help but think about Leah’s reaction and what Tim’s plan as she got back into her car and saw the disco ball effect from her engagement ring across the car.
I think I am done with physical activity for the day, but will probably drive up Scenic 128 a little for the scenery before settling in for a little dinner.
May 19 – That night sky!
I took a quick nap yesterday evening as I was planning on heading into the park to take some pictures of the night sky. After that, I made dinner which consisted of leftover steak sandwiches with the steak, Colby jack cheese, and guacamole on roasted garlic and cheddar bread, turned out quite nicely with an arugula salad on the side.
Then it was time for a little relaxation to wait for later in the night, so I sat outside, made a fire, and sat there with a book and an old old-fashioned for a little bit.
UPDATE
I forgot to mention that I did drive along the Colorado River, and the scenery was as exceptional as you would expect!
I also found out that apparently each night a truck with about a bazillion watts of KC lights slowly drives down Scenic 128 shining their lights on the cliff faces. A bit odd, but there definitely were some striking views!
Finally, I headed back into the park and have to admit that driving up the hairpin turns in dark was pretty surreal. I started out at panorama point but was not particularly happy with how that looked and how the pictures were turning out, so I headed back over to windows to see if I could do something different there. That was a great choice as I had a lot of fun messing around with a couple of the different rock formations trying to get decent pictures, which I hope speak for themselves, considering I am a total novice with an iPhone
The drive back out of the park was also pretty cool with not a lot of people on the road so I couldn’t resist when purely luck cause this song to come out on the radio.
Travel with Sherpa 