About That Second Week in Moab (April 7 - 13)

Dear Family and Friends,

Roger posted a picture on Facebook last week of a hike that we did at Fisher Towers. A friend wrote back and asked if we were tired of "rocks" yet? After a chuckle, we both decided that these red rocks (actually huge boulders) are something that we could enjoy for a long time. That made us think about how lucky we are to have this opportunity to hike and have hiked in many areas of the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest. Hiking is something that we have truly come to enjoy and have learned a lot about the skills necessary to do it successfully.

Canyonlands National Park is one of over 390 parks in the National Park System. It is located about 20 miles from Moab. The park is divided into three sections: 1. Island In The Sky, 2. The Needles and 3. The Maze. The Colorado and Green Rivers divide the park into the three sections. The rivers converge at Confluence and form the Colorado River that flows into Lake Powell, and beyond. The Park was established in 1964 and remains largely rugged. Our trip on Saturday took us to the Island In The Sky Visitor Center for the beginning of a drive that took us throughout that section of the park. The Maze section is only reached by high clearance, four wheel drive vehicles and The Needles section is over 80 miles away from Moab. The Park covers 527 square miles.

 Incredible vistas

 Mesa Arch

 The views through Mesa Arch are spectacular.

The rest of the week found us dodging rain and cold weather. However, we were able to work in a hike and a bike ride. After the rain disappeared on Wednesday, the sun came out in the afternoon and we were able to take Bear for a hike on Portal Overlook Trail. The hike started out along the Colorado River and we ascended rapidly over red rock.

Roger is removing clothing during the hike.

Bear is ready to go on up. The Colorado River flows south in this picture.

Rock Cairns mark the trail.

At the top of the climb

Moab from the top

Looking south from the top

The LaSal Mountains with lots of snow

Heading back down

On Thursday afternoon, we decided to ride out Potash Road (Utah Highway 279). Although we are in the land of premier mountain biking, there is also world class road cycling. We are true roadies at heart. This highway has several areas for rock climbers.

Heading out to the red rocks.

We parallel the Colorado River on the left of this picture with sheer rock faces on the right.

You can see the rock climber.

Friday was a hike to Bow Tie and Corona Arch. This turned out to be one of the most interesting hikes that we have done due to a "sport" called Pendulum Swinging. That means climbing an arch, jumping off of it and swinging. Corona Arch was the place where a man was killed doing this, two weeks ago. Imagine our surprise o find four jumpers waiting to try it (there is a sign warning people not to do it). The pictures below say it all.

 Bow Tie Arch

 Corona Arch

Years ago, a fixed wing airplane flew through this arch. You can barely see the people on top preparing for the jump.

 A tree cairn marked the path to the arches. This hike involved lots of slippery rock and at points we had to use anchored cable lines to get on top of the rock.

Roger, Bear and I reaching the base of Corona Arch

 There are four men preparing the lines for the jump.

 It is hard for me to understand why people would choose to do this knowing that a man was killed at this very arch, two weeks ago.

 The jumper proceeds to "pendulum swing" under the arch.

We have had a great second week in Moab. We are grateful for the chance to hike and bike in this beautiful area. Thank you for checking in with us. See you next week.

About That Moab (March 31 - April 6)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from beautiful Moab. It is great to be in a new place and we have lots of plans for an exciting month in this eastern part of Utah.

Roger and I had our last bicycle ride in Zion Park on Sunday morning. We decided to ride early because the traffic into the park would become very busy. Our efforts were rewarded with a park ride practically to ourselves. What a beautiful Easter morning and it was a great finale to our month in my favorite national park!

The  Zion and Moab areas are playgrounds for four wheeling. Families arrived at our RV park in Zion with lots of toys. We saw as many as six four-wheelers belonging to a single family. They come in all shapes, colors and sizes.

                                    

                                   
                                     Some of the four wheelers hold one, others can hold six.


We left Zion on Monday morning, driving on I-15 to I-70 and finally hopping onto US-191 south. There were many challenges over the seven hour trip, especially on the I-70 portion. We experienced sleet, colder temps as we climbed several summits, wind and rain. Roger did a great job of driving and we arrived in Moab in the early afternoon.

 On I-15 heading into the rain.

 Notice the ice on the windshield as we climb a summit along I-70.

 Mixed sleet, rain and ice

 Looks like driving conditions are clearing.

Hooray for sunshine!

 Lots of 6% descents that last for miles. So glad there was no rain at this point on the trip.

 A beautiful part of Utah, from I-70.

 Moab sits at the bottom of the snow covered La Sal Mountains in the distance.

 Portal RV Resort is where we are staying for the month of April.

 Our new view from the windshield of the Tour. The off leash dog run sit in front of our RV. I know someone who is thrilled about that.

Wednesday was our first hike and it was incredible. We hiked to Fisher Towers where that commercial for Citi-Group was field. You may remember the girl who climbed the rock tower with her boyfriend. It remains one of our favorite commercials because champion rock climbers with amazing skills were used in the shots.  Although we did not climb that tower, we got to see it. Below are the pictures of Fisher Towers hike.

                                      

New backpacks for "serious" hikers.

 Vista shot taken from Fisher Towers.

Fisher Towers

 Climbing up to hike Fisher Towers in the early morning. 

 Fisher Towers

 Rock formations that are unbelievable.

It is amazing what water and wind erosion can do to sandstone.

 Blow this picture up to see the rock climbers. The pinnacle to the left of the picture was where the commercial was shot.

 The people who climb Fisher Towers are serious rock climbers who use a rope system. We were fortunate to see several climbers on our hike.

 Bear is an incredible hiker.

 Bear is giving Roger a lot of help with Roger's camera.

 Finally made it to the end of the hike. What gorgeous views!

 Colorado River valley

Thursday was our first bike ride in Moab. Since we are roadies as opposed to mountain bikers, we stuck to the bicycle path that runs out to Red Horse Canyon and Canyonlands National Park. We were well protected from the street traffic.

Friday morning was a hike called Negro Bill. It is on Bureau of Land Management acreage, so taking Bear was not a problem. The pictures below show this spectacular hike by the river that takes the hiker to Morning Glory Bridge.

                                      

Negro Bill Trailhead

 The start of the hike.

 Roger is signing us in.

 This hike has several water crossings along the way and that makes Bear a very happy hiker. He darts in and out of the stream at a fast clip.

 After two miles, we hit Morning Glory Bridge. Imagine our surprise when a green rope dropped down behind Morning Glory Bridge and people began rappelling down the side of the canyon wall.

 Morning Glory Bridge ( at 243 feet long, the sixth longest natural spanning bridge in the US)

After a great morning hike, we returned to the Tour to clean up a very tired, dirty Bear.

Our first week in Moab was great! We look forward to more cycling and hiking in the area. Additionally we want to explore Canyonlands National Park as well as Arches National Park. Thank you for checking in with us.