Moab is effectively "home" to two terrific National Parks: Arches and Canyonlands. The entrance to
Arches is just north of town. Canyonlands is much bigger - four times larger in fact. It also gets half as many visitors. It is harder to get to and, unlike Arches, there isn't a road through the park that takes you to within spitting distance of every major attraction.
While planning the trip, I wasn't aware of the differences between the parks. I just knew that traveling to Canyonlands would easily add about two hours to today's busy schedule (we needed to get to Salt Lake City this evening). This morning, Briggs and I picked Arches before we left the motel. From Bluff, it is two hour straight shot up US 191 to the park.
This is just beautiful, desolate, rugged country. Did I mention desolate? There are minimal roads in the southeastern part of Utah (I believe I could expand that statement to include other large swaths of Utah, but I'm currently speaking about today's experiences). For example, to get from Bluff UT in the SE corner over to St. George UT in the SW corner of the state requires driving into Arizona. Twice. And the better part of a day. Fortunately, we didn't need to get anywhere near St. George today.
The road up to Moab was mainly two-lane highway with some passing lanes and reasonable (i.e., fast) speed limits. The only major town we passed through was Monticello (pop. 1980) - but it appeared bigger than the population size would lead you to believe. Monticello was once home to one of the richest uranium mines in the country. But that was closed in 1960, and a massive clean up project was completed by the Atomic Energy Commission in 2004. An 18-hole golf course now occupies part of the site; it is rated the #2 golf course in Utah. Not sure if that is on par with the #2 rated ski resort in Georgia, but... hey, ... it's something.
I knew next to nothing about Moab before this trip - but what I thought I knew was that it was a mountain biking mecca. Coming into town from the south, however, it gives the appearance of being a four-wheel drive mecca. There are rental outfits for every type of four-wheel vehicle - Jeeps, Hummers, ATVs and side-by-sides (SxS). It is these SxS's that are extremely popular; they're also known as UTV's, ROV's and MOHUV's. A sort of redneck alphabet. There are dozens of companies set up to rent these vehicles in Moab. I'm sure it is a lot of fun, but... I have no doubt that it is a curse to the hiking purists.
We made our way to the entrance to Arches National Park, which is right off of US 191. We could tell that it was going to be a bit crowded. We topped off our water in the visitor center and got the lay of the land. Our hike for the day was the longest hike that did not require a permit - the Devils Garden Primitive Loop. It was also at the far end of the park. From the visitor's center, the road immediately climbs about 500 feet via a series of switchbacks - then it is rolling, twisty roads through the park. Today, it was crowded... bordering on very crowded. And we are weeks away from the height of the season. We managed to find one of the last parking spots for the Devils Garden Primitive Loop.
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| The drop to either size was dizzying. |
It was definitely a long hike. I believe the map says to allow 5-6 hours. We did it in a little over four hours with a few deviations - there were some ambiguous parts to the trail. Is it a difficult hike? We went on the counter-clockwise route and it started out fine. The parks will often encourage you to stay on the trail... very specifically on the trail no matter how nebulous the trail may be. At Hovenweep yesterday, they were a bit fanatical about it (it was bare rock six feet in either direction, but they wanted us to walk a tightrope of a path). I assumed climbing on the big rock formations at Arches was out of the question. However, the trail actually took us over such sections. Definitely not for those who are not sure-footed or scared of heights. There were some people who simply turned around. I had a hard time believing the angles we were able to walk up.
The park was a lot less crowded on the Primitive Loop... but far from empty. People were friendly and the weather was stunning. Things were a lot more crowded at those arches near the road. Tour buses unload throngs of people eager to get tons of pictures. I don't believe they are allowed too much time, so it is hurry up, take 90 pictures and get back on the bus.
We left Moab without stopping for lunch... which was following a minimal breakfast. About half an hour north of Moab, we run into I-70, and I had assumed we'd find a spot to eat. Wrong. In fact, it was another 100 miles before we came across a restaurant in the small town of Wellington UT. We passed a hole-in-the-wall eatery named the Cowboy Club, and Briggs insisted we go back. In all fairness, it was after 4pm and we had hardly eaten all day. And it wasn't a complete hole-in-the-wall. We were the only customers at that time of day besides a group in the billiards room intent on drinking every Bud Light in the establishment (FYI, they actually succeeded and had to switch brands). Service was great. Food was good. Portions were stupidly huge. We got very lucky. Good job Briggs.
We made our way to Salt Lake City via US 6 and I-15. Absolutely stunning drive. And, as was the case with so much of this trip, the landscape changes appreciably. Gone were the desert vistas and red rock. We were into green valleys - the road was actually in a river gorge for dozens of miles with beautiful, smooth curves. A driver's paradise. And hey... we were in a hurry.
Our hotel for the night is right at the airport. Tomorrow morning at 5:30am, Briggs takes off for southern California. I'm going to miss him. We have had a ton of fun. But, in the afternoon, Angela arrives and the fun will continue.
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