June 22, 2013
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| Colorado River |
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| Negro Bill Canyon |
Native American tribes...including the Pueblo, Utes and Navajo, roamed the Moab area for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in 1776.
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| Moab Arts Festival |
A group of Spanish explorers carved a trade route across the desert to California. One of these routes linked Sante Fe with Los Angeles and ran past Arches NP.
Eventually, The Old Spanish Trail was used by fur traders and prospectors. Early explorers followed rivers, crossed expansive plains, and scaled mountains.
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Their isolated lives in the wilderness were full of daring adventures, savage warfare, and extreme temperatures.
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| Eggplant parmesan...best we have ever had! |
By 1855, The Mormon Church set out to establish a trading post at the Colorado River crossing in Moab. Conflicts with the Utes forced the Mormon to abandon.
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| Moab Arts Festival |
In 1878, a group of prospectors, ranchers, and farmers established a permanent settlement.
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| Moab Arts Festival |
It wasn't long until the discovery of precious metals and the development of coal mines lured new settlers.
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| Moab Arts Festival |
There is an interesting story about how Moab got its name and the efforts to change it. If you are interested...check out Wikipedia.
Fast forward to the 1970s...Moab became home to Arches NP and today tourism flourishes.
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| Moab City Park |
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We arrived in Moab on May 18th for a 2 week stay. Well, after just a few days here, we quickly realized that was not going to be enough.
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| Fire in sky...view from our MH |
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| Almost dark... |
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| Corona Arch |
And, thanks again to Carson and Deb for saving our bacon at the Devils Garden primitive trail. That trail was for sure a boost in our confidence! They also suggested the trekking poles which have been a great help for Joe.
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| Awesome BBQ... |
Pearl (our Jeep) has added more opportunities for us to explore the great outdoors. What a great time we have had the past few weeks. A huge thank you to Doug and Dee for opening that door!
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Joe and I enjoyed a couple of 4X4 trails by ourselves, but oh my...the places Doug and Dee have taken us... we would have never tried by ourselves.
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| Lots of these around! |
Last Thursday, we followed Roxanne and Dee on a easy to moderate to difficult 4X4 trail which included Tusher Tunnel, Hidden Canyon Overlook and Bartlett Overlook. Talk about a confidence builder!
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| Great food and service! |
Then on Friday, Dee drove us through Hell's Revenge! Pearl needs new gears to drive that trail safely...our goal is to do it next year!
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| Downtown storefront |
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| Sidewalk downtown |
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| Store window... |
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| Whirley Qs |
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| A frequent stop for Pearl! |
We stopped by the car wash quite a few times!
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| Moonlight and a burger... |
We enjoyed a few of the restaurants on Main Street with new friends...Sue and Paul, Jan and Martin, and Dee.
Our pups sure enjoyed the doggie park at Portal. What a way to cool off!
It was a great time...and I am sure we will be heading back that way next year!
It was a great time...and I am sure we will be heading back that way next year!
Thanks for stopping by!
Y'all come back!
Moab is a wonderful place. We were there for a month and there was still SO much to do. We can't wait for the next time. Looks like you had way too much fun:)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are enjoying hiking. It sure is a super way to get a total body workout. We sure are missing the western hiking. Hike some rocks for us!
Moab has no coal mines, wrong formation. It is in the center of uranium country, however.
ReplyDeleteIn 1872, with the passage of the Mining Law, settlers and explorers could make mining claims. Many took advantage of this law. At first, most mining concentrated on coal, gold, silver, and copper. WWII brought about the uranium mining and today potash is also mined.
DeleteLoved reading about your adventures in Moab. This is definitely an area that we want to see and spend time in. We also love hiking and feel that sometimes it is the best way to see so much of what is out there. Many places are are only passable by foot and so many people miss all so many beautiful sights. Thanks for your summary and pictures of your time there.
ReplyDeleteRuth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com
You have had such a great time there thanks for sharing your tips.
ReplyDeleteYou need to see it when there is "snow on them there hills" too, it really puts a different light on the subject, so to speak. I was lucky to do so back in my college days when it was only a few hours drive each way. I know that Arches has a RV area which is not very busy during the very early (late winter) springtime just in case you were in the area.
ReplyDeleteDave (Marcia and Bubba and Skruffy)
GoingRvWay.com
Great recap of your stay in Moab. Loved that you took us along. The pictures are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun recap of your time there. I always thought it was a desolate place that was mostly popular for mountain biking. You sure have piqued my interest to put Moab on our itinerary someday.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great viewpoint of Moab... I'm sorry we missed the art festival. Glad to catch up with you yesterday and meet the fur kids.
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