Artist Point
Add comment November 16th, 2008 03:09pm Jeff
Anderson Watson Lakes Revisited
Add comment October 6th, 2008 05:40pm Jeff
Back to our Northwestern Rain Climate! We took Angel back up to Watson and Anderson Lakes to see if we could see them. Even in the rain, it was the BEST color I have ever seen! The fall has taken hold over the elevated meadows and it was spectacular to walk through them! Found lots of berries on the bushes, so I ate my fill. Watson Lake was beautiful! A lot larger than I imagined, too! It’s good to be home!
Natural Bridges/Glen Canyon/Capitol Reef
Add comment September 27th, 2008 05:26pm Jeff
We woke very early and caught the sunrise. At about 10:30 a.m., we were at the Natural Bridges Monument where we spent about two hours. We took a loop drive and saw Sipapu Bridge, Horsecollar Ruin, and Owachomo Bridge. We hiked down to Kachina Bridge and saw all kinds of petroglyphs and Indian ruins. Red clay was plentiful in the White Canyon Wash. Back in Jeep, doing a lot of “drive by shooting” with the camera, we saw “Cheese Box Butte” and “Jacob’s Chair”. Had a great burger at Hanksville and then proceeded into the Capitol Reef National Park. We saw some petroglyphs on the canyon wall there and Mr. Behunin’s cabin. We ended our day at Tremonton, Utah.
CanyonLands (Island in the Sky)/Dead Horse Point
Add comment September 27th, 2008 04:54pm Jeff
The Island in the Sky was superb! There were at least four great storms we could see in the distance. We walked the Mesa Trail and stopped at the Grand View Point. Then we went to the Green River overlook and also took the Upheaval Dome Trail. I am sure that the Upheaval Dome is the Lair of at least three Dragons, judging from the dragon poo and how they were complaining about all the tourists. We also took the Mesa Arch Trail and saw the most beautiful arch! Leaving Canyonlands, we drove to Dead Horse Point State Park for the sunset. It was simply gorgeous and the views of the Colorado River were breathtaking!
CanyonLands (The Needles)
Add comment September 26th, 2008 04:00pm Jeff
In the distance, thunderstorms were everywhere. We never got rained on, but it was very close at times! We went to Cave Springs where there were some wonderful petroglyphs. then we drove a dirt road to Elephant Canyon trail head. We hiked up and down through Elephant Canyon and through long slot canyons…up and over these “otherworldly” mushroom shaped rocks! We went up to Chesler Park and had great views of the Needles. There were lots of lizards on the way and it was incredibly hot….when we got back to Jeep, we took our shirts off and wrung them out! We also stopped at Newspaper Rock on Hwy 191 on our way back to our camp site in the Arches. That is the best example of petroglyphs we have ever seen!
Courthouse Wash/Park Avenue
Add comment September 26th, 2008 03:54pm Jeff
Biscuits & Gravy for breakfast and we were off on the trail through Park Avenue. This was a trail that went through sandstone formations that appeared to be an abandoned city ….it was quiet and eeerie. A very neat experience! Our lips were dried and cracked, so we stopped in Moab for a tall lemonade and some lip balm. Then we were off to find the Courthouse Wash petroglyphs. We wnt down the Courthouse Wash trail, but could not find anything. Then, we stopped to the visitor center and asked….we found them on a mountain just at the entrance to the town of Moab. We walked up to see them and were thrilled with the many different writings that were in this spot!
Arches National Park (Fiery Furnace & Delicate Arch)
Add comment September 25th, 2008 09:07pm Jeff
Got up to watch the sunrise and then cooked breakfast and had our coffee. Said goodbye to Brooks & Natalie and then went tot the Balanced Rock and Panorama Point to take a picture of the Fiery Furnace. We went into the Fiery Furnace before the day got too hot. We went through slot canyons and up steep slick rock. We saw many arches on the way and sat to rest under Surprise Arch. When we came out of the Fiery Furnace, we went to Double Arch and went right up into this arch! It was fun! Toward evening, we hiked to the Wolf Ranch petroglyphs and then took the miserably hot hike to the Delicate Arch and watched the arch in the glowing sunset!
Arches NATIONAL PARK Tower Arch trail
Add comment September 24th, 2008 03:18pm Jeff
We began today going out through the salt wash in Jeep to the Tower Arch. After a difficult 4 mile hike, we arrived at the most beautiful arch! We were able to climb up into the arch and get some awesome views! This trail was the least populated one with the finest of views. We drove up out of the wash and then hiked the Windows trailhead and saw the North and South Window Arches and the Turret Arch on a primitive trail that was so shady and cool that we stopped for lunch. It is over 100 degrees today! After dinner, we hiked to Tapestry Arch and Broken Arch and had to book it back to the camp site before darkness fell. Once again, we gazed at the stars and had our neighbor, Don, over to share this with us!
Arches National Park (Devils Garden Trail)
Add comment September 23rd, 2008 05:44pm Jeff
After sitting in line with other folks and getting to know who we were going to be camping with, and having Brooks heat some water for our 5 a.m. instant coffee, we obtained a campsite at 7:30 a.m. and went back to the room at the hotel for breakfast and a shower. Then we went and laid a towel at our precious campsite and took off to do the Devil’s Garden hike. We saw the Pine Tree Arch, Tunnel Arch, Landscape Arch, Partitian Arch, Private Arch, Dark Angel, Double O Arch, and the Apache Arch. On the way to these arches, we climbed up and down “fins” ( spines of slick rock) in 93 degree weather, very often over a mile high in elevation! We got back to our campsite just in time to set up our tent and the telescope. The stars and planets were fantastic! (Very little light pollution up there!)
On the Road to Moab UT (Day 1)
Add comment September 22nd, 2008 04:20pm Jeff
We were really excited to arrive at the Arches National Park, but we pedunkered on the way and ate at Mom’s Cafe in Salina. Then we saw some petroglyphs in Thompson Springs (a mostly ghost town). They were awsome petroglyphs! When we arrived in Moab, there was no room in the campgrounds or in the hotels….we got the last room in the hotel. Then we woke up at 4 a.m. the next morning and sat in line for the 9 campsites in the Arches Campground!