Twisp of Fate

Utah, that is….

Here we are near Moab, Utah for 6 days, well-positioned to explore Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  We headed south with our Aliner camping trailer on May 9, after a weekend in Seattle for various errands, visits and Mothers’ Day dinner with Rick’s mom and sister.  The first night we stayed at Farewell Bend State Park, a very nice Oregon SP on the Snake River, almost into Idaho.  The second day we daudled a bit, so didn’t get to a campground until quite late, and landed up at Willard Bay State Park just south of Brigham City, UT.  Not so nice, just off the highway and they were doing work at night so lots of jack-hammering amidst the truck traffic noise.  Thank goodness for earplugs!

Arrived here on Wednesday May 11.  We had made a reservation for 6 nights, and had a spot at the end of a row so we weren’t sandwiched between other people.  The place is quiet and very clean, and well out of town ( Moab appears to be a bit hectic).   But it turned out we were near the highway with lots of truck traffic at night, so the next morning we arranged to move to a new spot as soon as possible, which turned out to be Saturday.  It’s on the other side,over a slight rise which blocks off the highway.  So for our last 3 nights here we will have peace and quiet, and an unimpeded view across the desert towards the Windows section of Arches National Park:

Moab itself is a mecca for bicyclists (both road and mountain variety). There is an extensive trail system, plus all the surrounding public lands.  It appears to also draw rafters, rock climbers, hikers, and ATV and motorcycle types.  The town has a lot of RV parks and motels, restaurants, tourist shops, and “adventure tour” places.  Red rock T-shirt, anyone?  Kokopelli?  No?  Well it also has a couple of good grocery stores etc. so we have ventured into town a couple of times to stock up.

Thursday we explored Arches National Park.  What an amazing place!  We stopped at several spots along the road and did short to medium hikes, probably about 6 miles all told.  Still getting used to the altitude here, which has been between 5000′ and 6000′ where we have been hiking.  Rick is having a lot of fun with his big camera but I took a few with my little point-and-shoot so I can post a sampling of the scenery on the blog.  These are thumbnails, click on the image to see it full-sized:

Turret Arch in The Windows area of Arches NP

Double Arch in The Windows area of Arches NP

Delicate Arch at Wolfe Ranch area of Arches NP

Winter Wash below the Delicate Arch

Yesterday  we drove down to The Needles section of Canyonlands National Park.  This park is huge and divided by the Colorado and Green Rivers, so you can’t drive through the park and no roads connect the different sections.  The road to The Needles section is 40 miles south of Moab, then a 35 mile drive to the park boundary, but it is a lovely drive with towering red rock cliffs, mesas, a creek valley with a working ranch, etc.  Once we reached the park and got more information at the visitor center, we did the short drive to the end of the road and explored a couple of the “short walks”.  Then we parked at the Elephant Hill parking lot and did a 6-mile hike to Cresler Park, which is a high shrub and grassland surrounded by the Needles formations for which this section of the park is named.  Didn’t start until about 3 pm and got out a little after 7 pm, tired and weary and sweaty but basically happy to have been really up into such an amazing landscape.  A lot of the hike was across slickrock with rock cairns to guide the way.

The Needles area landscape

We got to a sign that said “Chesler Park 0.2 miles” and yours truly went the wrong way, so after about a half mile we realized this couldn’t be right, and re-traced our steps.  Pretty tired, we debated whether to make the effort to go up to the overlook, which involved some climbing.  But wow, we are glad we did!

Chesler Park from overlook