July 7, 2022
The Hickman Bridge hike is a 2-mile out-and-back trail to a 133 foot natural bridge with views of the canyon. We had a beautiful day to hike after setting up camp in the Fruita Campground beside the Freemont River. Deer frequent the grassy campground. The hike is a good one, with good scenery.
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Just outside Goblin Valley State Park is Wild Horse Canyon, which can be a four-mile or eight-mile hike. We opted for the four-mile, which meant we would hike up the slot canyon until it meets a gravel road, then go back down. A sign warned to check weather before hiking. Flash flooding can put you in danger in a slot canyon. “Be aware of your escape route.” Capitol Reef National Park had big flooding issues three weeks ago. Six people had to be rescued and 60-80 people were stranded in a parking lot.
Although an incredibly beautiful storm came through last night, there was nothing expected today, and it was a beautiful morning. It starts out walking up a dry stream bed. We talked with an experienced family with three small children, who said the forecast was good. They were obviously experienced hikers with all the right gear. The husband had climbing gear and a rope over his shoulder. I felt good following them, but when we stopped to photograph a few lizards, they were gone. I’m pretty sure they were doing the 8-mile loop and would come down the slot canyon on their way back.
As the canyon narrowed from 60 yards to four feet, to 3 feet, we had to negotiate rocks and puddles of water. Once we surrendered to getting our feet wet, it became easier, but still challenging. Karen and Nathan are tremendous athletes and the kids are too. Melissa, usually silent until after noon, was leading the way, talking and laughing the entire way. I couldn’t help but laugh. She is a gymnastic star and cheering team member with strength and flexibility that are incredible. She was playing a Disney star describing the challenges presented.
As with most hikes, Martha and I were glad to get to the top, but already wondering if going down would be even tougher. Fortunately it was easier. I think everyone rated it one of their favorite hikes. It was pretty, challenging and very different. I kept looking for mountain lions or goats, but never saw anything. Karen, however, spotted several pronghorn on the way to the hike.
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
We were first scheduled to stay two nights in Goblin Valley, but it has been very hot and Goblin has no electric, or hookups. You can get water, and there is a dump station. It’s a cool campground, with views of the Goblins and mountains. It was a little intimidating at first, being so hot, and it is in the middle of nowhere. Once we got used to it, and all it’s beauty, two nights would have been fine.
There are no hikes in Goblin Valley. You just wander Goblin Valley on your own. Karen decided to take a trail that leads to Goblin Valley from the campground, up and over a small mountain, then down through a narrow wash that finally led us to the Goblins, the Three Sisters and up to the parking lot overlooking Goblin Valley Three. Again, it is so hard to imagine this whole, dry area covered by an inland sea, but it was, and what made this area unique is it was a tidal marsh, shallow and rising and falling. This led to some very unusual stone structures.
After drinking some water, we wandered through the valley. It’s very cool, with canyons and corridors leading everywhere. We ended up following a Goblin-surrounded canyon winding through some tall cliffs and interesting “faces” looking down on us. It continued to narrow until we all agreed it didn’t lead anywhere, so we turned around.
Thankfully, Martha and Melissa had gone back to get the truck early in the trip, but it was only .8 mile back to camp. They have wonderful covered and wind-protected picnic shelters at every camp site. If you were in the shade, there was a nice breeze, and it was quite pleasant.
Then the winds came. A storm and big, black cloud came over the mountain, blowing sand and raining over the dry valley. We quickly closed the windows in the trailer, but the sand had blown in. As it seemed to subside, I reopened the windows, but it blew again. It was so fierce, the kids hit the floor!
As the storm passed in front of us, there came a very pretty rainbow, the rain and sand extending the rainbow as I have never seen before. We saw the other end of the rainbow was over Goblin Valley, so we jumped in the car and drove up there. We did get some pictures of the rainbow over “The Three Sisters”. It was so cool!
We drove to the other end of the campground to find several yurts in great spots, one tucked up in a little cove up against the mountains, with a porch, a grill and picnic table. What more could you want?
Monday, July 4, 2022
We had a rather sleepless and worrisome night in Moab. For the third night in a row, the winds roared, flapping the awnings. I got up and put the awnings up. Next door, Juan’s awning was really flapping. He and his brothers quickly put it up, but apparently there was some damage. He is a very nice guy from the northern Sinaloa Province of Mexico.
We also have been having trouble with the air conditioner tripping a hot circuit breaker. I got worried and opened the windows and turned on the fans. That would have been OK, but the winds were gusting so hard, I was afraid we might break a window or the plastic tops for the Fan-Tastic fans. That would seriously impair our trip, so I stewed all night, finally closing the fans and opening the front door. It did cool down by maybe 3:00 am. None of us got much sleep.
Two cups of coffee and something to eat and Karen, Martha and I headed to Grandstaff Hiking Trail to Morning Glory Bridge. Karen gave the kids the morning to sleep in. It is a beautiful hike along a small stream, crossing it 10 times. With beautiful views of the canyon, I kept looking for wildlife, but never saw anything. Surely they were there. Cresting a hill, we could see Morning Glory Bridge, the fifth largest natural bridge in the world.
It’s an impressive bridge of rock. I was surprised to see a man at the top of it. As we took pictures from beneath, we could see the man again. He dropped a rope. This is a big area for climbing and repelling, so I was interested to see this. There were at least two, as they talked to each other. Then one stood on the edge and inched his way over. He began to walk down the vertical wall. Once the wall cut away from him, it was a free drop, sliding his handles down a pretty thin rope. I thought maybe Bear Grylls might be the next one down, but we didn’t wait to see.
Walking back down was easier. We were back at 10:00 and the kids were just rousing. Karen had found a hike by a clear stream with good swimming areas, so she took them on that easy hike while Martha did a load of laundry, and I washed the dishes, straightened, shook out the rugs and vacuumed.
Terry and Polly passed by the campsite and gave us advice on the air conditioner. Terry said she cleans the filters every day from all the dust we get around here. She also said to unplug everything else. I found one of our filters to be pretty dirty, and washed both. I asked if they saw Mike, to send him our way.
I switched the refrigerator to gas and asked everyone to unplug their devices once charged. Mike, with Mobil RV Repair called. I told him what we had done. He thought it might be dirty power, an improper ground.
20 minutes later he pulled up to our site. Checking both posts, they tested clean. I need one of those devices! Next, he went to the fuse box, which was very hot. There was not enough power arriving at the breakers. He moved on to the inverter, which was also hot; then to the converter, which wan’t getting any power.
He asked if my solar power was on. It was, so I turned it off. He thought that was the problem. I thought the system knew to switch between systems, but apparently not. He said to switch the refrigerator back to electric, which I did. After a few minutes, things started to cool down. He thought the two systems were fighting each other, and all should be well now. I certainly hope so, and I have learned something else that seems obvious, but I certainly thought the two systems would know to switch. Anyway, it’s easy to turn off the solar. I really don’t like plugging into power for all the things that can happen, but In July in Moab, you need air conditioning.
Josh had found a friend to play with – Trevor, a nice young boy. First they threw the football around, then went to play pickle ball. By evening, the gregarious Trevor had gathered eight boys to play tag.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Revisiting Canyonlands was fun. Sitting up on a high mesa, it is 10-15 degrees cooler than Moab. We walked the Rim Trail, and Karen was able to take a 3-mile run. It is a pleasant park divided into three parts by the Colorado and Green Rivers. Some parts are only accessible by gravel o9r sand roads from the south. floating through it on one of these rivers would be a great way to see it.
Sunday, July 3, 2022
On our way up to Canyonlands National Park, we first stopped at “The Monitor and Merrimac” rock features. To the east were the La Sal Mountains and Mount Waas at 12,306’. We turned left (east) we came to Dead Horse State Park, not knowing what to expect. Well, my new friend, Cindy, at Riverside Plumbing said she and her future husband used to go up to Dead Horse State Park for a date.
I think it was a $10 entry fee, but we had bought a Utah State Park pass, so they waved us on. The park overlooks a gooseneck turn in the great Colorado River. It really is as pretty a spot as one could wish for. A cute couple were having breakfast at the overlook at sunrise, giddy in their young love in such a gorgeous spot.
Friday, July 1, 2022
Karen, Josh and Melissa flew into Grand Junction, Colorado, about an hour and a half from Moab. Their flights were on time and without a hitch. We stopped for lunch at Qdoba, which was very good.
First driving west on I70, we turned SW on 129, which follows the great Colorado River through a beautiful canyon. We stopped several times for pictures and stopped at Sandy Beach and stood in the water. Melissa did one better. She went all the way in, then laid on the hot sand making sand angels.
There is a very pretty Lion’s Park and bike trail that extends 3 miles upriver from Moab. It also goes up to the entrance of Arches National Park and into and through the town of Moab. It is a great place for walkers, runners and bike riders.
Saturday, July 2, 2022
We got up at 4:10, and left at 4:30 in order to see sunrise at Delicate Arch. We had headlights, thinking we would be walking in the dark, but there was a pre-dawn light, so we really didn’t need the lights. Why so early? Martha and I had taken this hike a few days ago, and I will never forget passing a pretty girl carrying a camera. I asked if it was still there, and she said, “Yes, but the sunrise isn’t.” We were determined to catch the sunrise this time. This is an easy hike for Karen and the kids, but not so much for us, but we made it for sunrise 😊.
It is only a mile and a half hike, for a three-mile round trip, but it is an up-hill climb that is quite strenuous. It is a beautiful hike, finishing along a ledge with steep drop-off. Since we had done this before, I brought the 70-200mm lens. While Karen and the kids climbed to a high spot to see the sunrise, I was taking pictures of the arch when a voice with a heavy accent asked, “Can I see what you are taking?” I turned to show my last picture. He was interested in the lens and settings, and was a handsome young man from Ukraine. There were six or seven of them in a group. I asked him how things were in his country. He said, “The 21st century is crazy.” A perfect description I thought. I’m not sure what the story was, but they were having a big time.
As we sat watching the sun rise, making all kinds of light changes on the arch and surrounding cliffs, more and more people came up the mountain. They came speaking all kinds of different languages. Everyone wanted pictures under the arch. I was surprised how courteous they were, waiting their turn, then being pretty efficient in getting their pictures and getting out of the way.
The hike back down is easier, and we could look at the beautiful surrounding mountains. Again, we took the side trail to some of the best petroglyphs I have seen. Although a bit difficult, we would rate this hike at the top of our list. The arch is beautiful; the surrounding mountains are spectacular; the hike up a huge rock hill is cool, then walking along a cliff edge is cool, but an important part was unexpected. The people from all over the world, speaking different languages, small children, all with courtesy and respect. They took their shots under the arch, then got out of the way for the next group. Across the valley, Martha spotted another group viewing the arch from behind, perhaps with the sunrise showing through the arch. Cool!
Thursday, June 30, 2022
To avoid the heat, we drove 40 minutes to Canyonlands National Park, up a big mountain and onto a giant Mesa that is divided into three sections by two rivers, the Colorado and the Green River. Like the Grand Canyons, the mesa sits above the rivers, carved away by a giant inland sea, the Cretaceous Seaway or the Western Interior Seaway.
“The Cretaceous Sea, also known as the Cretaceous Interior Seaway, was a narrow, rather shallow sea that connected the modern Gulf of Mexico and modern Arctic Ocean. The formation of the sea is rather complicated. Basically, the Earth’s crust is divided into slabs of crust called plates. These plates float on semi-molten rock and get pushed around by rising hotter rock and get pulled towards areas of sinking cooler rock. Sometimes the plates collide and this can result in crumpling of the crust forming mountain ranges. As mountains are pushed upwards, they often pull the surrounding land down making the landscape look like a crumbled rug.” From https://eastern.usu.edu/museum/paleontology/cretaceous-sea/index
Continuing from Utah State University Eastern:
“Simplified, the story began about 170 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic as the North American Plate moving west at about an inch per year, started a slow crashed into the Farallon Plate that was moving east at about the same speed. Over the next 105 million years this slow-motion collision created a series of mountains between the west coast and western Utah. To the east of these mountains, the land was pulled downwards allowing ocean water to flood the center of North America.
This down-pull was erratic and the land surface would alternately bob up-and down very, very slowly over millions of years. The result was alternating times of submergence below sea level and rising above it. During the Cretaceous, the central part of North America began a downwards cycle around 130 million years ago (Early Cretaceous) and the sea reached Utah around 110 million years ago. The landscape began bouncing upwards around 70 million years ago, forming the Rocky Mountains and pushing the ocean off the continent.
Much of this up and down motion during the Cretaceous is preserved in the Book Cliffs and in the Grand Staircase National Monument as alternating layers of marine and terrestrial sedimentary rocks as the coastline shifted back and forth. It is for this reason that these areas are famous among geologists.”
We were up early, so we grabbed some things and drove north 10 minutes to Arches National Park. The park is so busy, you have to reserve an entrance time between 6:00 am. and 5:00 pm. We got there at 5:30, showed our National Parks Senior Pass and drove right in. There were others in front and behind.
It’s about 12 miles to Delicate Arch trailhead, the featured attraction of the park. It’s hard to zip along, because the scenery is so spectacular. It was a beautiful morning with some cloud cover, a perfect morning for a hike.
The hike is 3 miles round trip, rated moderate. It’s a cool hike with incredible scenery. A pretty girl with a nice camera was walking out. I asked her if it was still there, and she said, “It is, but the sunrise isn’t.” I smiled and walked on. I guess we were about an hour late. The last stretch is along a cliff, which I do NOT like, but we made it. I could see why this is #1, as it is unique and very pretty.
On the way back out, we took a short side trail to some pretty spectacular petroglyphs made by the Ute Indians, for whom the state of Utah is named.
We stopped for a picture of Sand Dune Arch. Then we drove through the campground. It’s a very cool campground. Two sites had spectacular views of the valley below. One in particular looked so cool. A young lady was making breakfast with that view in front of her. There are also some nice picnic areas near the campground.
Then we went for a 1-mile hike to Landscape Arch. By now the parking lots were filled and the trail busy, but not really a problem. People watching is also fun. There were lots of young children, some not looking so happy. One very fit mother was carrying an infant on her back and holding the hand of a young girl.
There are 2,000 arches in the park! The landscape changes dramatically with different shapes, vertical walls that seem to have been cut with a laser. I envisioned riding a horse through a gorgeous valley below.
By 9:30, I was tired and sore and now hot. This is a good time to be finished, although the crowds were still pouring in. At the entrance cars were lined up for a quarter mile in two lanes.
Back at the trailer it was well into the 90’s, a good time to finish my projects. I finally I realized I had to go back under the sink and rotate the base 180 degrees and turn the handle around. Voila! It all worked! We have water 😊. As a bonus, the sprayer worked – not great, but it worked. There is a little spring with a plastic basket that goes in the line under the sink, but I couldn’t figure out how to place it, so I left it out.
On to the reading light. Trying to solder a dangling light proved a challenge. With Martha’s help, we tried a few times, but managed to just end up with a big ball of solder that didn’t hold. Finally, I saw how to remove the little on/off switch, which made access better. I cleaned off the solder, and while I held the the wire to the switch pole, Martha held the solder in her left hand, soldering iron in the right, and working between my two hands holding the wires, she soldered it! How she managed to not burn our fingers or touch the other pole, which would have blown a fuse or worse, is amazing, but she did it!
We screwed the light back in its hole, turned it on and it worked! Yahoo! It was a good day. I put all my tools back in the truck and cleaned up. It was 105 degrees outside, and pretty hot inside. The air conditioner runs all day, and never catches up during the day. We both considered that. God help us if that thing dies! We turned it off for a while and sat outside. Oddly, sitting in the shade with a little breeze is fine. A dip in the pool also helps, but by the time we walked back to the trailer in the sun, we were hot again.
We took Bob to dinner at his favorite pasta place and enjoyed further conversations. He had ridden his bike all through town this morning and found the trail with a line down the middle goes all the way through town, a street behind Main Street. This will give Karen even more distance to run when she comes. He said all side roads just lead to developments, although several were very nice.
We drove up the side of a mountain to Sunset Grill to see what the view was like. It was pretty spectacular. We could see the whole town, and for the first time to realize the town sits in a valley. It is also bigger than how it seems when you drive through it. Bob heads out tomorrow for Montrose, Colorado. Maybe we can visit later down the road.
