Ben has seeing the Milky Way on his bucket list. We had heard Canyonlands was great for star gazing, so we headed there right before sunset.
The colors over the canyons were amazing while the sun was setting. There was a full bright moon though, so while we saw some great stars, we didn’t really see the Milky Way. There is a faint shadow in some of the pictures that might (maybe…hopefully…) hint at the Milky Way, but I think we will have to try again when the moon isn’t as bright.
After Canyonlands, we drove to Arches to try our luck there. Still no Milky Way, but gorgeous nighttime landscapes.
The pullout area we were at for Canyonlands did not have a bathroom. I got to use my camping funnel* for the first time. It was…different, but when you got to go…It worked though, so funnel for the win!
Today we went back to Arches to see a couple of the arches we had missed before. We hiked to landscape arch (longest in world), the Windows, Turret, and Double Arch. On the way out, we saw Pothole Arch. We had missed this one earlier in the dark. It is harder to see because it is a horizontal arch (like a pothole) instead of a vertical arch.
Landscape Arch is in Devil’s Garden, which is at the end of the park road. You don’t hike the whole Devil’s Garden trail (which is good because it is long), but you do get to see some of it’s towering sandstone. There was also a smaller arch to the right of Landscape. We saw a few lizards along the trail and a small herd of female and baby deer right near Landscape Arch. We all just stood there for a minute starting at each other. Their ears are so much bigger than the deer’s back home!
Next, we headed down to the Windows and Turret Arches. These were pretty busy. North Arch definitely had the most people, as it as the first arch. South Arch was pretty empty. It’s not much further, but you do hike around a turn, so I guess a lot of people skipped it. The Turret Arch is across the way and on the same loop.
The final (planned) arch for the day was Double Arch. It has two arches out of the same base. It is across from the Windows and you can see it partly from the parking lot. You can see the arches, but will get a better view if you move closer. It was a nice sunny day, so you could really see the Double Arch really well from the lower parking lot. We did walk to it and it was neat to see.
Because we got such an early start to the day, we headed back to town for brunch. It’s been much harder to make pancakes in the RV and everyone was craving some fluffy pancakes.
The day ended with a Nerf battle between Ben and the boys and a dip in the pool. We had the pool to ourselves and it was amazing!
Our first adventures in Moab were in Arches National Park. We missed the beginning of the sun rise because we were all lagging and dragging, but at least caught the tail end.
We brought lots of water and sunscreen with us in our day bags and in the truck. We wore our boots since Utah has several varieties of rattlesnakes.
The colors are amazing! When I think of dessert, I picture brown. However, there are reds, browns, whites, and greens here. The minerals in the earth make a lovely canvas across the land.
Our first hike in the park was to Delicate Arch. This is the arch you see on the license plates. It was listed as a moderate hike, about 3.5 miles (there and back). There is a trail in the beginning, and then you hike up a large slab of slickrock and follow a few signs and other people around a ledge to finally see the arch.
The views are amazing once you get there. It was a little crowded, and so far the people in the parks in Utah are not as good at wearing masks in outdoor crowds as in Montana or even Colorado.
You are not allowed to climb on the arches (you would think this is obvious, but we have seen people climb them despite the signs), but there are other rocky areas to climb. The boys love stretching their legs and testing their climbing skills. Of course, the “look where you put your hands and feet” is cautioned before they attempt anything. Within minutes, they came running back yelling about a snake. Will almost ran into a snake…again. Luckily Nick saw it and they ran away.
Ben and I walked over to see what they saw, and it was a small snake curled up on the rocks. It looked like it could have fit (while curled up) in the palm of your hand. I had my zoom lens with me, so I zoomed in for a picture and Will asked a Ranger later. She seemed very surprised and said it looked like one of their smaller rattlesnakes that live in the park. We think it may have been a midget faded rattler. Luckily they are usually nocturnal and he didn’t wake up from the boys climbing right near him. So…the boys were done climbing. We also saw a small lizard and a blister beetle.
After that excitement, we walked back along the trail to stop at Wolfe Ranch. It is a small pioneering type of cabin from the late 1800’s. Mr. Wolfe was originally from Ohio! There were also petroglyphs in the area that we walked to see.
As part of the boys’ online school, we are allowed supplemental hours. We wanted to incorporate learning into a lot our daily fun/activities. When we got home, they researched what kind of snake we saw, blister beetles, and petroglyphs vs pictographs. We learned that if you see lizards out, the snakes are probably going to be active as well. Some adult snakes can control how much venom they inject during a bite. Petroglyphs are etchings/carvings in rocks, while pictographs are paintings.
After the boys were done with their research, they went with Ben to the pool while I worked on the laundry.
In the evening, we went into town and explored. Moab is a cute town! Lots of things to see. They have a Food Truck Park, which is super cool. Unfortunately, there have only been a few of the trucks open each time we have gone. We got a shaved ice to share and then went to The Spoke for dinner. It is a cute building with interior brick walls and it looks like original wood floors. We were on the second floor by a window, which is always nice. They have really good burgers and Brussels Sprouts.
It was a pretty good day, although I think we were all ready for bed by the end.
After Colorado, we headed to Utah. We had had mostly hazy skies in Colorado during the last of our stay due to the wildfires. I was really worried about our route, as the highway we were originally going to use had been shut down. Luckily, it opened a couple of days before our departure.
Our drive was pretty uneventful, although long. We passed several signs that said “Wildfire in Area. Do Not Call 911.” and “No Stopping On Highway”. We saw some smoke in the distance, but no large fires. However, we did pass where the fire burned next to I-70. It was immense amounts of burned trees and shrubs. It was crazy. We did get stopped in traffic for about 20 minutes or so. It was standstill, but next to a creek, so at least it was pretty.
Wildfire smoke in the distance
We arrived at our campground after hours, so our paperwork was in the outdoor box waiting for us. This time we had a pull-through spot (YAY!), so it was a little quicker getting settled in. We got everything hooked up and did a quick grocery run in town.
It was almost sunset, so we drove into Arches National Park (about 15-20 minutes down the road). We missed a lot of the sunset, but managed to catch the end. Arches looks pretty neat and I can’t wait to explore it more.
