On Saturday morning (6/29), we said our "thank yous", "see yous" and "ta-ta for nows" (never "good-byes!) to our new friends, the Majestic Dude Ranch and the green mountains of Colorado then headed back to the red rocks of Utah in Moab. By the time we arrived and got settled, it was early evening so ate in, chilled out with some board games or a quick swim and hunkered down for the night. We were all exhausted from our terrific week at Majestic and sleeping until 9am felt like another luxury.
Moab was the one place on our 35 day schedule that we didn't really have specific plans and, given how tired we were and that Josie was still on crutches, that happened to work out really well. Despite a lot of sleep, we woke up on Sunday still pretty wiped out and, quite frankly, not particularly looking forward to three more days of dry desert and red- rocks everywhere. We parodied National Lampoons European vacation "Big Ben! Parliament!" line with "Red Rocks!, Deep Canyons!" instead. (I had been warned.. "red-rock fatigue" DOES exist!). And, despite Moab billing itself as "The Adventure Center of Utah", we weren't really sure how much we could do or see with Josie on crutches.
Thankfully we went into the Moab Information Center where we encountered a terrific person at the counter who was very passionate about helping us have a great time. He gave us all sorts of great ideas that involved little/ no walking and- also very nice-mostly free (since we have annual US Parks pass). Our newly figured itinerary gave us the needed bounce in our steps and we left the info center and headed to scenic Potash Road: home of famous petroglyphs, "Indian Writings" and dinosaur tracks, with some terrific views thrown in for good measure.
The next morning we were picked up by our rafting guide and set our for another morning of white water rafting- this time on the Colorado River. Even though the Colorado River was much bigger and the water was running much faster than the Animus, we have to admit, it was pretty boring compared to the adventure we had in Colorado just six days before. A big difference though was that the water was warm enough for us to jump in so we did enjoy ourselves on some smaller rapids and swimming where it was safe. The different guides/ different companies often settled in the same swim places for safety so there was one swim break where Matt started a bit of a competition among rafts by kicking off with a cannon ball. It was splashy and fun! The competition end when three brothers did synchronized front flips off the same raft though- no one could top that!
That evening we traveled around the VERY under-rated Canyonlands National Park. We only saw a very small piece of this amazing place but even by car/ little walk-outs, it was pretty spectacular. Towards sunset, we moved from Canyonlands and into Dead Horse Point State Park- horrible name but a spectacular view! Some great trails and amenities too... definitely worth going back for a sunset picnic someday! We finished the day with "real" Mexican food which was harder to find during our trip that you might think (yes, even in AZ)- but we really enjoyed.
Our last full day in Moab was dedicated to it's most famous park: The Arches. Based on our great guy from the Info Center, we got there before 7:30am and we were glad. Cool temps and not crowded at all. We were once again pleased and amazed to see just how handicap accessible this national park is- especially since, with Josie's ankle, we kind of needed it to be this time.
We started with a quick view of the most famous arch- Delicate Arch- from the lower viewpoint, which was just a 50 foot walk. After that we traveled up to the Devil's Garden parking area (passing many overlooks and Skyline arch along the way) and did a short exploration on Broken Arch Trail. We then headed back down the mountain, stopping at the Windows Loop trail/ parking area which was PACKED but had great views of Double, Windows and Turret arches. Everybody was getting a little antsy from being in the car and so we did the Windows loop trail (Josie was a trooper!) all together. Having hit all the major spots we could, we traveled out of the park and back to Moab, noting the VERY long lines of cars trying to get in.
Apparently no trip to Moab is complete without some kind of crazy back-country Jeep-like tour (in our case it was an old Land-Cruiser). So around 4pm we headed over to the outfitter and climbed into a fun, rough and tumble tour of the western side of the Arches with a VERY knowledgeable guide (Buzz). It started out simple enough: stops at some dinosaur tracks, great views and hearing about our guides most famous guests including how he guided George Lucas (Star Wars!) and his family for 4 days. Then the fun began: 70 degree climbs up, down and back over rocks then a drive and light hike to Whales' Eye Arches and area. Matt enjoyed talking to the guide about the truck suspension, etc and the girls has a blast being almost sideways or having to hold on forward because we were pointed almost directly down. The trip ended beautifully with sunset over a gorgeous plain- once again much greener than usually because of the snowy winter and wet spring. Dinner at a brewery and home for some packing and and early rise to get to our next destination: Park City!
MATT SAYS:
Moab is unique and interesting place with all the mountain bikers, jeep or 4 wheeling enthusiasts, rock climbers, white water rafters, along with all the geologists and anthropologists. With all the different adventure options we were limited to the 4 wheel adventure with Buzz and white water rafting with Jackson. Both were fun, but after doing some mountain biking at the majestic I was ready to hit the trails in Moab. (Oh Well, maybe next time).
The Arches and the sites and Dead Horse point were pretty and we were lucky to be in the parks during the evening to see the beautiful sunsets. I encourage anyone who reads this blog and is heading to our national parks, to either get up early to see the sunrises or stay late for the sunsets. Crowds generally build up between 9-5, so it is well worth visiting our parks outside those hours.
ANA SAYS:
Arches national park has wonders that make you wonder if people built the arches. Moab is a busy town full of adventure though there is really not much to say.. My favorite tour of the trip was a tour of the Arches National Park where we drove on WILD terrain, it was really fun.
NEW PICTURES IN GALLERY!
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