October 21 . . . Slick Rock

The activity in Campground Loop A of the Sand Flats Recreation Area has a weekend hustle and bustle feel to it. Both of us kept checking our phones, it feels like it’s Saturday, isn’t it Saturday? What time are the Badgers and Cougars on ? Alas, it’s only Friday. A lazy morning quickly turns into a lazy afternoon. Eventually, CW decides to tackle the Slick Rock bike trail. We headed that way on bikes, but only one of us is entering the fabled grounds.

We’re happy to report, there was no need to find the local hospital. But we both found it comical and practical that Grand County offers that nugget of info along with the weather forecast at the entry to the trail.CW chased a couple of kids for several miles, finally passing them on a long, steep hill, while proudly proclaiming, “see, there’s at least one thing as I can do better than you guys.” The kids constantly smoked him on anything but the big climbs.It’s worth noting, the Old Man was gassed by the time he got to the parking lot. He may have smoked those kids on that big hill, but It’s unlikely they are huffing and puffing in the parking lot.

We headed back to camp to see what Friday afternoon would bring us on the 4x4 trails visible from camp. We climbed a slick rock mesa to get a view of multiple trails.Does vehicle look safe? We both guessed that ice chest on the back was full of beer.The tour services all stopped at the same place, acted like they couldn’t climb the trail, then gunned it up and over to the delight of the passengers. Amy was on that tour at Rod’s Cadillac Ranch way back in the ‘80’s. Those jokes never get old. Nonetheless, this is a bigger scale.This guy in the red Jeep Cherokee had second thoughts after the first hill and tried to reverse course.One of two things happened next . . . either the driver convinced the passenger they could make it through the entire trail, or the other way around. Either way, they reversed course again and were later seen climbing a hill in the distance.Truth be told, we never saw any vehicle in trouble or danger. You would think at least one fool would try his hand at this trail and get stuck, thereby causing a massive traffic jam on top of one of the fins. It was all very well done.

October 20 . .. Back On the River

Moab is a community built around the outdoor adventure recreation industry, and there is always a service to meet your needs, until the late October rolls around. The main reason we headed to Moab was to explore the canyons of the Colorado River via our kayaks. The Old Man feigned some old hockey injury, and was unwilling to provide shuttle service with his hard tail Trek, so we had to find a local service. Attempt #1 was directed at Coyote Shuttle Service, the nice lady said they were swamped for October 19, but said she might be able to squeeze us in for today. We needed about 90 minutes of their time. This was not an epic shuttle. By 10:00 this morning, we had heard nothing and could only reach her voice mail. Apparently, all local shuttle companies operate on the “cell phone only” plan, with no traditional brick and mortar retail outlet. Next up was Roadrunner Shuttle, Jim answered the phone, we gave our request, he said, when do you want to meet. Naturally, we weren’t ready that instant, so we said, make it 11:30am at the visitor center in downtown.

Jim was prompt, but we had to wait in line for the ATM as the armored car refreshed before a long weekend. Jim loaded our kayaks, and then we followed him down the road to Potash, about 20 miles downstream from Moab. We parked our car at the Potash boat ramp, and climbed in with Jim and his obnoxious dog, and plenty of conversation about the best kinds of guns to take camping. The ride back to Moab Bridge went quickly. By 1:00pm, we were unloaded and on the water, paddling beneath the new Moab bridge, just past the huge piles of Uranium tailings. How huge? About 16 million tons worth of radioactive material, all of which is being moved 30 miles away over the next 17 years. Why ? Because LA wants CLEAN water? Picky, picky.

The first two river miles went smoothly, especially mile #2 with a nice swift current that carried us downstream at 7 mph. Then the Colorado slack water arrived. We paddled from side to side looking for current, any kind of current. We had 20 miles to make before sunset. This little kid’s current was going to force us to paddle, steadily, leaving few moments for relaxing and simply enjoying the scenery while floating down this majestic river.

With the FJ parked at Potash boat ramp, we had little choice but to simply suck it up and get to the ramp before darkness and coldness set in. We stopped paddling long enough to enjoy lunch while floating past the Gold Bar campground. Hmmm, maybe we should have left the FJ here, oh well, only 7 miles to go.

In the end, we bit off the right amount, we beached the boats in Potash, just as the sun fell behind the canyon rim. The river pulled us in. We wanted to see what is around the next bend.

October 19 . . .Victory attained, and dismissed.

CW has prided himself on setting up the Directv dish with minimal hassle. He carefully studies the sky, levels his dish, and then turns on the TV so he can pivot the dish until he hears the lovely beep to acknowledge some sort of signal strength. Well, in Moab, he hit red, white, and blue 7’s on the slot machine, aiming his 18 inch dish at a 50 foot object 25,000 miles away, and when he came inside to turn on the tv, there was no beeping noise, just some lame show on the Speed Channel. He had perfectly aimed the dish. While raising his hands in victory, Amy informed the Old Man, “The Bill Gates Foundation developed a very promising vaccine for Malaria. Isn’t that cool?” CW promptly asked, “You couldn’t have given me a few moments of glory before reminding me about the insignificance of aiming a satellite dish.”

Wednesday rolled around again, so our day was plotted out to make sure we got back to camp in time for Must See TV. We decided our feets should carry usthis day. Morning Glory Arch was the first destination. It features a pleasant hike through a canyon with a politically incorrect name. It also provides a free flowing stream for many crossings and photo ops.

The source of all that water, a crack in the wall where a side canyon abruptly ends, revealing a fabulous arch. According to the Moab West map, it’s the 6th longest arch in the world. On our travels, we have learned the difference between an arch and a bridge. A natural bridge as a regular flow of water under it, while an arch does not.

The trailhead to Morning Glory Arch was just a few miles upstream on the Colorado from Moab, we reversed course and headed for the Moab Bridge. This time, heading north and out of town to our next hike . . . the Fiery Furnace. We had visited this area of Arches National Park on a previous trip, and it was anything but fiery, snow was on the ground. Arches NP can be easy, just one road, ample pullouts for photo ops, and short hikes to the famous viewpoints. The Furnace is different; it’s an absolute maze of vertical sandstone fins. Leave GPS and cell phones in the car, neither works in here. And those handy cairns we followed in the Canyonlands, forget about it, make one of those here and you earn yourself an arrest for vandalism on federal lands.

We signed up for the ranger led guided hike through the Furnace a few years back, as the NPS makes it sound like you can’t go in there on your own. While on that hike, we noted other groups without guides, we inquired about such a permit this time around, and they happily obliged us since we had been there before.It was an adventure, picking our way between the slabs, not sure where we were headed, and never knowing what lie around the next corner or through the next crack.Wilson had some trouble here, his waist may be 32 inches these days, but that belly will not squeeze through a six inch crack.Around a few more fins of sandstone, he found a crack that was more his size.Remembering your route was critical . . . back up that, across the draw, third crack on the left, make a u-turn around the slab, take the slot on the far right, then down the rocks etc etc etc. . . In this view, our only path out was the crack with the large shadow from top to bottom in the right-middle of the photo.The entire Fiery Furnace is just a few square miles, but you can get trapped quickly with the desert in view, but tantalizingly out of reach.After negotiating our way back and having some time to spare before sunset, we took a side route and were rewarded with an enormous arch, completely hidden from view until you stepped under it.In this land of adventure and extremes, today, we felt like the cool kids. Going at it alone, no maps, having only yourselves to rely on. When and how we returned was solely in our hands.

October 18 . . . Moab

Life on the road does require occasional chores. On this day, Amy happily volunteered to shuttle Curt and his bike, opting to spend the in between time at the laundromat. With a Dollar Store and a pizza by the slice place in the same strip mall, the time went quickly. The two hours allotted for Curt’s bike ride had almost elapsed, and she still hadn’t heard from him.Finally a text. “I am ok, just slow going.” With the scent of clean clothes in the FJ, Amy proceeds back up the road to save the poor guy from the several mile road slog back to the meeting point. What a surprise. The trail was longer than expected, or more technical, or whatever. A happy marriage does not include Amy on that agenda, and this time, we made the right choice. The bike warrior returned tired, but unscathed.

We found some coin op showers in town, bought a few groceries, and headed back to camp with big plans for the week.

October 17 . . . Disneyland for Gravity & Gasoline

What do you get when you match good weather with a teacher’s conference in Salt Lake City? You get a jammed packed Moab full of Utah families with kids on fall break.. Campgrounds are full and you can spot just about every kind of vehicle imaginable, with a heavy emphasis on Jeep products, since the annual Jeep Jamboree is also in town. This is our campground loop, about a quarter mile from the famous Slick Rock Trail. The Rebel is on the far right side.The weapons to attack the desert trails come in all shapes and sizes. The kids around the corner have 3 mini ATV’s, the compound across the street has at least 10 mountain bikes, and the guys next to us have several bikes, and three 4x4 vehicles. Loop A of the Sand Flats Recreation Areas only has 15 spots, but it looks like Grand Central Station around here. SFRA is a unique place, located only about 3 miles from downtown Moab, it’s a place where muscle power and horse power come to play.It’s worth noting . . . within the apparent chaos of the miles of slick rock domes and hundreds of vehicles, this place is very well organized. There are several defined trails, and people stick to them.That is the scene directly above our campsite. We have resisted the temptation to take the FJ on the “Baby Lion’s Back” trail for one very pointed reason. How would we look if we rolled our FJ off the trail and landed on our trailer? We have no desire to be nominated for a Darwin Award.

The gasoline may wear thin at times, but there is an unmistaken family atmosphere in Loop A, packs of kids playing hide and seek amongst the slick rock, big brother showing little sister how to ride an ATV, and this 'oh fer cute' scene of a parent and young child climbing high to get the last rays of sunshine.

October 16 . . . Elephant Hill & It’s a Small World.

Day two in Canyonlands led us the rim of the Colorado River. Tough guy decided he needed to ride the remaining bike, meanwhile Amy took a crash course in the finer points of 4x4 driving. At the end of the easy section we met two parties that really illustrate how opposites attract in the Canyonlands. While Amy spoke with Bill and his wife (from Texas with appropriate accents) in their bright yellow FJ about the road conditions for the final 3 miles to the rim, CW consulted with a solo hiker, who was hiking from Arches NP to Grand Canyon NP, that’s several hundred miles of desert and canyons to cross. In this lonely corner in the desert, we come across a guy fresh off the car lot in Houston and a guy that makes the previously mentioned Walking Man look like he going for a stroll at the local mall.This represents half of the people we see today on the Colorado Overlook road. The remaining parties were a lady driving a Land Rover, and a very serious duo in a jeep with a snorkel, 20 extra gallons of gas and driving gloves. We accept defeat and park about a mile from the rim. Do we really need to go down (and back up) this chunk of road?The wiser course of action seemed to be parking and allowing the scenery and canyon to slowly unfold while we walked. Maybe Old Joseph has taught us a thing or two. The Canyonlands do reward intelligent choices. It also offers incredible views for those that make the journey.We returned to FJ and made our way back to the Visitor’s Center, CW went in to give a trip report for bikes on the Overlook Road and to get a preview of Elephant Hill, the famous 4x4 trek in the Canyonlands. After letting the nice lady know that the sand was manageable, he inquired about Elephant Hill, he asked for a comparison to the last mile of the Overlook Road (the part we didn’t drive), she responded that the easy parts Elephant Hill were tougher than that stretch. Okay, sounds good, this duo will not be tackling that road.

While CW was patiently waiting (can anyone imagine him butting into the following conversation?) to get his questions answered . . . This guy and kid were badgering the nice lady and demanding a river permit for their large raft. The lady said, we don’t issue permits here. The guy says, “I called, the person on the phone said you did!”. The lady said “We don’t, and we don’t have any to issue anyway”. Finally, CW butts in and tells the guy, “You can’t get to the Colorado River from here”. The guys says, “Yes, we can!”. CW apologizes, and says you’re right, “You and your son could drive up Elephant Hill, then hike several miles down to the river via the only trail that goes below the rim, and if you make it down with all your gear and raft, you can inflate it on the rocks on the wrong side of the river, and if you succeed, you’re reward will be Cataract Canyon, the toughest stretch of white water on the Colorado, and if you survive this several day journey, I sure hope you packed a motor, because you will get several miles of Lake Powell before you can get off the water in Hite.”We both wondered, should father be watching son or the other way around if they came across that sign? We’re not sure where they went that afternoon, but I do know we returned to camp for another warm night and sunset to match.

October 15 . . . Day One in the Canyonlands.

Some of our “hardcore” friends claim that exploring National Parks is akin to walking along a paved trail in the Arboretum. Perhaps. But Canyonlands NP is cut from a different cloth. There is nothing easy here, this is no Disneyland for outdoor enthusiasts, and where else does a National Parks Service welcome 4x4 users, as well as those on mountain bikes or motorcycles. If it’s street legal in Utah, you can bring it to Canyonlands National Park. Assuming of course you can get there . . . It has 3 districts, the Maze, which requires you to drive 300 miles without needing a filling station. . . . your reward, an actual maze of interconnected trails, so deep in canyons that GPS is rendered useless. Islands in the Sky is most accessible, only 60 miles out of Moab on a road that literally dead ends on one of those Islands in the Sky. This area features the White Rim Trail, for vehicles with good clearance, motorcycles capable of getting 100+ miles on a tank of gas, or real tough people like Kira on a mountain bike. Lastly, there is the Needles district. We hiked to a spot that was about 5 miles from the Islands in the Sky, as a bird flies, if you drive it, figure 150 miles on questionable roads.

We camped just outside the entrance to the Needles District, on friendly BLM land (meaning, camp where you want, do what you want). Day One in Canyonlands was supposed to be a bike ride to the rim of the Colorado River, just above it’s confluence with the Green River. Nice try. Wilson couldn’t make it out of the campground without breaking his bike, in reality, he was quite lucky. This freak injury to the bike (broken seat bolt) could have happened at a much worse time or place.

Plan B was hiking. We have some experience with hiking in the Canyonlands NP, and one specific theme sticks out, there is never an easy way back. In the Cascades, we hike to mountain tops, enjoy the view, eat lunch, and eventually take a stress free stroll downhill to the trailhead. In the Canyonlands, you will go uphill both ways, you will climb up and down numerous slick rock mesas, and no matter what, a sandy slog will await you for the final mile in the simmering sun.Amy chose to park at Loop B in the campground, thereby giving us an extra mile of fun stuff before reaching the trailhead. We immediately got lost, in most cases, cairns are eye candy, in Canyonlands, they are essential, but tough to find on the steep slickrock slopes. This isn’t “Crack in the Wall” or “Hole in the Rock”, but it was our passage from one mesa to the next.Where we quickly got lost again, how do we get down? We can see Big Spring Canyon (our intended trail), but right now this mesa has us stumped. Wilson confirms with GPS, yep, we’re on a mesa, and the trail is over there somewhere. Meanwhile, Amy scrambles from side to side, eventually finding us safe passage to the valley floor. After consulting the map, we’ve decided on ascending Big Spring Canyon, crossing over the pass, then descending Squaw Canyon to Loop A of the campground. Careful math tells us we’ll be just shy of 8 miles, and our legs are feeling good. The sweat on our brows told us it was smoking hot, much warmer than Page, to the tune of 90 degrees. We stopped for lunch at an actual spring, enjoyed the shade and rested up to tackle the pass into the adjacent canyon. This was our last chance to take the easier way out, just retracing our steps. With every step forward, it would be quicker to return via the other canyon. Big Spring Canyon ended in a large basin with a huge mesa looming above us.How do we exit to the other canyon without ropes and skills to use them? Part of us said, “It’s a National Park, the trail will be marked”, the other part said, “Ha ha suckers, we got you again”, did you think this was Mt. Rainier?”. Once again, we followed the widely spaced cairns. At this point, Amy considered turning back, but that would require going down all the crap she just came up.This thought would come up again a few more times. In this pic, we’ve reached the pass between canyons, but have zero idea how to get down into the new canyon. That little object about to enter the shadow at the bottom is Amy.Wilson climbs higher and eventually spots cairns marking a path that seemed counterintuitive, but following rocks stacked in a nice pile by an unknown stranger was a better idea than either of us had at the time. And we really didn’t want to go back down what we just came up. The descent in Squaw Canyon was kind of like a slip and slide with no water and plenty of grip for our shorts.Throw in a 3 mile sandy slog on the canyon floor, along with some bonus slick rock mesas in the final 800 yards, we were bushed and tired of drinking very warm water. Time to get back to camp and enjoy some cold beers from the comfort of a Cabella Chair. . . .Oh wait, this campground doesn’t look like the one we parked at. Dam . . . A bonus half mile to the car awaits, after scouring Loop A for the path (up and over another mesa) to Loop B. We arrived back to the Rebel just in time to enjoy an outdoor shower and for false hope from Pullman when we turned on the tv to find the mighty Cougs only down by 3 at halftime.