The last two days have been amazing. Moab is seriously like nothing I've ever seen. So gorgeous and expansive, with just the craziest rock formations. Things that just don't look like they should happen.
Monday Papa and I rent two quads for 5 hours and romped it around the northern section of Canyonlands. It was so cool. I mean quads are fun as is but add in some awesome scenery and boom, its like nothing else. There was also some pretty technical riding at some points. And of course we brought the GoPro but to make it work we had to get the chest mount, which was an easy decision! A video will be coming out soon, Papa wants to dink around with the clips we got and put together something cool, you know add in music and make us look badass. Needless to say after 5 hours of quading in the sun we were tired. A nap was definitely in order. But not before we went to the Moab Brewery and got a couple beers and then wings cause who can pass up 15 cent wings! Plus we met a nice couple around thirty something from Michigan who we chatted with at the bar. The girl reminded me so much of Tracy, one of my sister's friends.
Tuesday Papa and I really put on our big boy pants as we went to tackle hiking the Devil's Garden and Primitive Trail. Which is 7.5 miles of hiking with a good portion of it labeled difficult. With the predicted temperature for the day around 95, Papa and I started out pretty early hoping to beat some of the heat and most of the crowds. Turns out we didn't start early enough, getting there at 8:30 there were surprisingly quite a few people out there. Though the temperature was perfect.
The trail starts off pretty easy, but you are surrounded by jaw dropping formations. As the hike got more and more difficult the sights just got better and better. The trail had 7 arches to see in just 7.5 miles, which is quite a lot of bang for your buck if you ask me.
The hiking was pretty interesting with the trail mingling in-between fins and up on rocks and through gullies. The first part of the hike was were we saw most of the arches. We saw; Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, Landscape Arch, Partition Arch, Double O Arch. All of those were before we hit the really hard trekking which was to say before we got to Primitive Trail.
Then we went on to Primitive Trail, which was just that! It took us down into a gully which was where the last arch we would see was, Private Arch. But boy did we go down. And in this gully there was no wind, which in the heat of the day (97 degrees) really sucks. Especially when you know that you will in fact have to climb out of the gully to finish of the trail.
The last leg of the hike wasn't very much fun, a lot of hot uphills with a lot of stops for Papa. But he made it and we made it and it was all very much worth it. All in all a great day that yet again deserved a good nap.
Took me a couple days to remember how to get onto the blog! This is great. Thanks for the pictures and the commentary. I've never been to this part of the county - only Bryce Canyon. this is definitely different. Glad you both made it through some hard hiking and riding.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way you can re-send an invite to hush@dcn.org and bdav@dcn.org so Jan and Bill can enjoy your trip?
Take care!
Awsome! Thanks for posting. I have always remembered the photos of Grandma Kathleen's sister's trip to these arches, probably in the late 50's. Just a BIG WOW that you got to visit and made the trek. Also, Andre, couldn't help think of you posing in rocks of Kangaroo Island, Australia: it's becoming a lifestyle theme (smile).
ReplyDeleteBe safe and enjoy the essential naps.