|
|
|
To see our complete Photo Album at our
Webshots Site.
To see a summary map of our route,
click here.
June
30
Morning coffee on our
veranda. Then during the heat of the day we worked on personal stuff in the air
conditioned cow. Around 5pm we headed out to the Moab Adventure Outfitters in
downtown Moab. They had Raft for a Cure today for breast cancer. We didn’t do
the raft part because we just did it, but they had a party afterwards. From 5pm
– 10pm, they had a BBQ, raffles and 3 bands. We didn’t bring our chairs, but
that worked out fine. They had the river rafts set up all over and we just
found one to hang out in. The bands had to end at 10pm due to city
ordinances.
29
Today we had coffee out on our veranda. Then at
9am we headed over to Arches NP. We were going on another guided hike. We were
to meet at the Windows Trailhead at 10am. We had the same guide Alicia that we
had on the Fiery Furnace Hike. We also met a few people that had been on the
Petroglyphs Hike yesterday. Since this was a Survival Hike, we talked about how
people survived 1000 years ago. How they made shoes and clothes. How to make
fire. How to make tools and hunting gear. How to catch small mammals. What
plants to eat and how to use them for other things. How to find water and what
plants are good for medicines.
After our hike we headed into Moab for some various items. We got a car wash
and then went to the Moab Museum. Then we headed over to the library. We were
hoping to be able to check out some books but no luck. So we just stayed there
and read. It was also a nice break from the afternoon heat of 105 degrees.
Then we headed back to the cow.
We had a package waiting for us. It was our computer part. We went back and
installed it. Hopefully, this will correct our problem. Tonight is the full
moon. So we watched it rise over the La Sal Mountains. We came back and
watched two old John Wayne movies that were filmed in this area.
28
Today we
decided to have a time out day. We worked on our website and photos. About
4pm we headed out to meet a ranger for a 430pm hike. We met 2 miles south of
the park on RT191. We had been by this area so often and wasn’t aware what it
held. We met up and headed out on the hike. We went about 1 mile round trip.
He showed us Petroglyphs and Pictoglyphs. He gave us a history on the ancient
people that created them.
Afterwards, we headed back into Arches NP. We went by Balanced Rock. There
was a side road we wanted to explore. It was a 4 wheel drive road that showed
it went all the way back near our campground. We started our journey. It was
about 630pm and starting to cool down to 98 degrees. What a relief!! We made a
stop for a quick hike and photos and off we went. The road got kind of snarky,
but when we got to the deep sand and big slabs of slickrock we turned around.
It also didn’t help that we didn’t know what direction the road went. So we
made our way back and enjoyed the early evening sky.
27
This morning we got up and had coffee outside.
We got ready to go and headed out around 930am. We were heading up to I-70 to
Thompson Springs and then on to Sega Canyon to see the pictoglyphs and
petroglyphs. We found a few different areas they were in and then continued
down the canyon. We found an old house with a stone oven and sleeping bunk
house. We came back through Thompson Springs which is like a ghost town. We
didn’t see even one person.
We got back on I-70 and headed East toward Cisco. We got off and went
South on RT 128. For now we are in the middle of nowhere, but soon RT128 meets
up with the Colorado River and is very scenic and lush. We make a couple photo
stops and then continue on. We came up to Dewey Bridge. It was built in 1916
and was the only way to cross the Colorado. Today it’s preserved and you can
walk across it. We continued on 128 and came to Fisher Towers where quite a few
movies were filmed. Soon came to Onion Creek which is where we put in when we
went on our raft trip of “The Daily”. We saw there were some rafts out today.
We got back to the cow around 230pm and just relaxed. We headed out again at
6pm to meet Angie and Eva at the Moab Brewery. John their neighbor that had the
beer was supposed to join us, but he didn’t make it. However, Teresa, the one
who guided us on our raft trip did join us. We had a good time and got back
about 9pm.
26
We got up and had coffee outside. Then around
9am we headed over to Arches NP. We stopped at the visitors center to see what
upcoming ranger walks they had. We decided to take one at 10am at the Windows
Trailhead. Our guide was Jim and he was originally from Chicago suburbs. It
was about a 1.25 miles and it took about 1 ½ hours. We learned all about how
the area and arches were formed. Then we hiked up Double Arch trail. It was
about 1 mile round trip. By now it was around 2pm and we headed back. We made
a stop at the grocery store to return a movie but the kiosk was down. We came
back, had lunch and then went to the pool. We played some cribbage and then we
were done.
25
Today I worked on the desktop computer all day
from 9am to about 6pm. We decided the wireless network card went bad and had to
order a new one. Hopefully this will resolve the problem. We headed out to the
grocery store and then came back, played cribbage, had dinner and watch the
movie “The Departed”.
24
This morning we got going around 830am. We went
to Canyonlands NP and hiked the Upheaval Dome and Outlook 1 and 2 trails. Then
we went to Whale Rock and hiked that trail. We did about 3 miles this morning.
We got back to the cow around 1pm. We called Angie and Eva around 5pm to see if
they needed help with a bed frame they got. We went over there and got home
around 10pm.
23
Today we were bums. We
just stayed around the cow and played with the computers and read.
22
Today it’s going to be around 103. We decided
to take a time out day. We turned on the AC and just hung out in the cow.
Worked on the computers, read and just took it easy. We talked to Angie and Eva
and ended going over to their house around 8pm for cocktails. We met their
neighbors Casey and John. John brews his own beer. We got home around 1230am.
21
This morning we had to get some domestic stuff
done. Then around 1130am we headed out to the Monti La Sal National Forest
Mountains. The bridge on the loop road is closed until November. So we decided
to start at the south end. Since you start climbing in elevation, the
temperatures really drops. It was 99 in Moab and when we got to the top it was
79. Very comfortable.
On the way we
had a traffic jam. The cowboys were moving the cows from one grazing field to
another so a whole heard of cattle was blocking the road. We had to wait until
they cleared to continue. As we drove, we had to stop again for more cattle and
a deer. We went to the end of the road which is at Oowah Lake. Now we’re at
8800 feet elevation and 25 mile from downtown Moab.
It’s a
beautiful lake in the middle of a forest of Spruce, Evergreen and Aspen trees.
This area reminds us of Northern Wisconsin. We talked to some people fishing
and they were catching Rainbow Trout. There were numerous mountain streams
feeding into the lake. We followed a few short trails and saw a beaver or fox.
We hiked up the Geyser Pass Trail and went about 3 miles round trip. On our
hike we were surrounded by a forest with running streams, fields of flowers with
butterflies fluttering around. We could see the tree line and the snow on top
of the mountains which rise to 12,721 feet. After our hike we headed home. We
got back around 7pm.
20 This morning we
got up early and had coffee and muffins outside. Then at 9am we headed for
Canyonlands NP. We’re going to take the Neck Trail. It has a 300 foot
elevation change and is 5.8 miles long. Well we finally made it back to the
beast. Our hike lasted 4 ½ hours and ended up being 7 ¾ miles. It sure wasn’t
no 300 foot elevation change. We went up and down and up and down most of the
way. Towards the end we had to climb up slickrock for quite a ways. After this
hike I was DONE! It was now 99 degrees. We got back to the cow around 230pm
and relaxed inside with the AC on. At 630pm we got moving and went to the
pool. That’s all!
19
Today were working on cleaning up all our photos since we arrived in Moab. If
the internet works today we will be uploading them to Webshots. We are also
working on our journal and updating our website. Since we’ve arrived in Moab we
have been disconnected from the world. Our cell phone only works on a hill a
mile away and then only sometimes, our internet only works sometimes and we have
no TV reception at all.
18
This morning we left at 7am. We headed to
Canyonlands NP for hiking. Since yesterday was 103 degrees we decided on
getting an early start. We stopped at the visitor center to see which hikes are
good in the morning. We decided on hiking the Lathrop Trail. It’s 2 1/5 miles
one way to the rim. You can go all the way to the Colorado River which is 10.5
miles one way with a 1600 foot elevation change each way. To start, Lathrop
Trail took us through an open grassy field. Then on to slickrock to the rim.
It was a beautiful view. We could see the Colorado River 1600 feet below us.
After our hike we were ready for lunch. We
went into Moab and stopped at Chinese Buffet. After lunch we walked around Moab
and checked out the shops. We stopped at a bookshop and had coffees then went
to the drugstore, hardware store and then the grocery store. We came back, went
to the pool and read. I finished my book. It took 2 days, a Record!
17
Today we stayed around the cow and messed
with the computers. It’s very hot around 103 today. We went to the pool later
in the afternoon and both started new books.
16
We went to Angie and Eva’s this morning around
9am They invited us to go rafting with them a bunch of their friends today. We
were going to raft “The Daily” on the Colorado River. There are 10 of us.
Angie, Eva, Brenda, Matt, Joesette, Laura, Lorina, Teresa, John and I. Teresa
is our river guide. We put in just north of Onion Creek Rapids. Brenda and
Matt went in one Duckie (a small 2 person raft), John and Joesette went in
another Duckie and the rest of us went in the 6 person paddle raft.
Along the way we went through Onion Creek
Rapids, Professor Creek Rapids, Cloudburst Rapids, and Rocky Rapids. We stopped
for lunch along shore and then started up again. We had Ida Gulch Rapids, White
Rapids and Fun Waves in front of us. We took out at Sandy Beach. In all, we
went about 13 miles down the Colorado River. After loading back up we headed to
Angie and Eva’s. We unpacked then headed back to the cow.
15
Today we got
up and headed up to Canyonlands NP around 1030am. We stopped along the way at
an overview and then continued on to the Visitors Center. We talked with the
ranger about hiking in the park. Canyonlands has 3 sections, Islands in the
Sky, The Needles and The Mesa. We’re near the Islands in the Sky Section. Which
is a 43 square mile mesa surrounded by 2000 foot cliffs. The Needles is about a
2 ½ hour drive. The Mesa is not accessible. At the Visitors Center we also
watched a short movie on the area.
Then we headed out to Mesa Arch. It’s a short
hike about ¾ mile loop. We took some pictures and John walked out on top of the
Arch. Then we stopped at the Green River Overlook. We headed on to Aztec
Butte. This is a 2 mile hike with a 250 foot elevation. I went most of the way
but not up the last part. It was steep slick rock. At the top is where the
indians would store their grains in homemade caves. We got back to the truck
and came back to the campground. It’s a hot afternoon about 102. So we went to
the pool for awhile.
14
This morning
we met Candy and Traci for breakfast at the Jailhouse Café. Then we went
grocery shopping and came home and relaxed. We met Candy, Traci, Angie and Eva
for lunch at 2pm at Milts. Milts is a little hamburger joint with outside
seating. Afterwards Candy came with us and we stopped at Power Dam to check out
the swimming holes. Then we came back to the cow and went to the pool for a
while and looked at pictures. Traci and Eva came by to pick up Candy and they
headed up to Sega Canyon to see the pictoglyphs. We decided to ground ourselves
tonight and just took it easy around the cow.
13
This morning we are around the cow, updating
our journal and working on photos. This afternoon Candy, Traci, John and I are
heading to Fiery Furnace at Arches. We are set up for the ranger guided trip at
345pm. They do the hike twice a day and take up to 25 people. To enter the
Fiery Furnace you must be with the guide or have a special permit. As we were
hiking we understand why. It would be very easy to get completely lost in
there. We had to do rock navigation and scurry along on slickrock. We saw
Skull Arch and Surprise Arch. We finished the 3 mile hike at 7pm.
Then we went to Wolfe Ranch to see the
Petroglyphs and then hiked up to Delicate Arch for sunset. It was getting
late. Candy and Traci stopped by for a cocktail and then headed back to Angie
and Eva’s.
12
This morning I had to do an ARC report. I
couldn’t get the internet at the campground, so we went up the road and I worked
on the side of the road. Then we picked up Candy and Traci. Angie and Eva had
suggested an adventure today so we took the maps and our 4 wheel drive and off
we went. We headed up to Gemini Bridges Road. However the first road we took
was wrong and it came to a dead end at a cliff. So we turned around and found
the right road. We put our beast through a workout. We made it to Gemini
Bridges which are two arches that your on top of. We hiked around and took
photos and then off we went again. We continued on until we hit 313 and took
that to Dead Horse Point State Park. We walked around the visitors center and
then watched a short film on the history. Then we drove down to the point and
did about a 1 mile hike. It was beautiful. A perfect view of the Colorado
River 1500 feet below us. On the return hike we saw a deer up close and another
new bird. The Western Scrub Jay.
Then we headed back but not the easy way. We took Long Canyon Road
which is also 4 wheel drive. It leads into Pucker Pass, which is a challenging
4 wheel drive part of the narrow road and tight switchbacks. OK, we made it
though that. Now we see the boulder in the road. We knew about this but it
looks like our truck can’t fit. So we stop and check it out. We can drive
under the boulder. Out truck should make it. We still have a few 4 wheel
challenges but the hairiest are behind us. We continue on to Potash Road which
is paved. Where Long Canyon Rd and Potash Rd meets is Jug head Arch. We went
30 miles so far today on 4 wheel drive roads.
We followed Potash Road back to Moab. It
was beautiful. We made quite a few stops. First there are Petroglyph all along
this route and were hugging the Colorado River. It’s overcast. When we stop at
Corona Arch Park we hear thunder then see lighting. We decide not to hike up to
the arch with lighting in the area. It’s better we didn’t, it started getting
windy and we got a little rain. We continued on and stopped a couple time to
see the dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs. In the distance we could see the La
Sal Mountains with a peak of 12,800 feet were getting snow.
We went back to Angie and Eva’s house and
relaxed for a while and then we all went to dinner at Fiesta Mexicana. Angie
and Eva wanted to show us something so off we went. It was about 8pm and still
light. We went on the south road along the Colorado and came to an old Uranium
Mine and Indian Hogan Spiritual Place that we had to hike up to. We walked
around and also found the Indian Hut. We went in for a while and told stories.
When we came out the sun was down and we headed home.
11
Today Candy and Traci are
coming over at 8am and were heading out for a day of hiking at Arches. We
stopped at the visitors center to sign up for the Fiery Furnace Hike. It goes
out twice a day and gets booked up fast. We signed up for Wednesday afternoon
at 4pm. It’s a 3 mile hike through a maze of slotted canyons.
We continued on and made a few pull over
photo stops. We stopped at balanced rock and took the hike around there. Then
we continued on and took the Windows turnoff. We went down to the North and
South Windows Trails.
We took the trails and then headed up to
the Devils Garden area. We started with some short spur hikes and then I got
sucked into going on the Primitive Trails toward Double O Arch. We had to cross
a steep narrow rock wall. I was not happy. It was supposed to be a loop back
but then we found out we would have another 5 miles of primitive trails. We
headed back the same way we came. We ended up going 10 rough miles today and I
was done.
Traci and Candy dropped us off and stopped
by for a beer. We got organized and then headed over to Angie and Eva’s for a
cookout. Angie got her maps and 4 wheel drive books out and told us an
excursion we should take tomorrow. We watched the sunset over the mountains and
saw some Black Billed Magpies. They are about 20 inches long. Another new bird
species.
10
This morning we took it easy and then moved to
E57 around 11am. We ended up going to the visitors center at Arches and then
took the Park Avenue hike. It’s about 2 miles round trip. We saw lots of fins
(straight up rock formations). We came back and Candy and Traci and their
friends Angie and Eva came over about 830pm. Our campsite faces west so we
watched the sunset over the mountains. Candy and I saw a shooting star. We had
a few cocktails and watched stars until around 10pm.
9
Headed for Green River Utah,
we called Arch View in Moab and they had space so we went there instead. We
have site 64 for one night and then have to change to 57. We drove around the
entire town trying to get cell service but the only place in town is on a hill
about a 1 mile from the campground. We went to La Hacienda for dinner.
7 -8 These were domestic
days getting ready for our move.
6
Today was
cool around 72 and very windy. I did some TCI stuff in the morning and then we
went to the Hurricane theater in the afternoon. We got there at around 1230pm
and got home at 630pm. We saw Mr. Brooks and then Pirates of the Caribbean #3.
5
It’s
very windy out today. Not a good day for hiking, driving or touring. So we
just stayed around the cow.
4
Today I worked on computer
projects in the morning and then we went to Walmart for an oil change and tire
rotation. They said we may need front brakes so we stopped in Hurricane at
American Car Care and they said all our brakes were fine.
3
Our friends Candy and Traci
are coming to town today. I’ve known Candy since junior high school. They
stopped by around 5pm for a couple hours.
2
Today is domestic day.
1
Today we
got up early again and headed out to Zion NP. We took the Ride with the
Ranger. It is a free tour and runs from about 9am to 11am. We ended up at the
visitors center and got reorganized for our hike. Today we are taking the
Angels Landings hike. It’s a strenuous hike about 5 miles round trip. It goes
up 1500 feet in elevation. It’s 4 miles round trip to Scouts Landing and then
another 1 mile round trip to the top of Angels Landing. We started our hike up
at 1130am. I hiked up to Scouts Landing and John continued on to Angels
Landing. We made it to Scouts at around 130pm. It took John until 3pm. Then
we headed back down. We finished up at around 515pm. We took the shuttle back
to the visitors center and then stopped at the little store and had a couple
beers. We headed back, stopped at the store to pick up something for dinner,
and then took it easy the rest of the evening.
|
