Moab Trails with New Friends

Gopher Flats
May 3 & 5, 2019
Moab, UT

When we were stranded in Tuba City waiting for a part so Joe could fix our MH, we met the family next door.  The Johnsons...Kjersti and Erich and their four smart, curious, and polite and lovely children (Asia, Jake, River and Micah) and their well-behaved Irish Setter (Cooper).  Erich is a traveling nurse and presently has a contract in Tuba City.  It's a good location for them to take excursions on his 4 days off.  When we mentioned we were headed to Moab, Kjersti said it was there next destination.  We offered to go off-roading and hiking with them.  They arrived on Thursday, May 4, and our first adventure on the following day was to go to Secret Spire and Dellenbaugh Tunnel.  There is a cool pour-off on the way to the tunnel.  

This is the view of Spring Canyon from the pour-off.  The pour-off is just beneath the little clump of flowers on the right side of the picture below.  This is where Spring Canyon ends or begins...not sure which.

It's a short hike over slick rock to get to the other side of the canyon.  

From here we headed to Dellenbaugh Tunnel.  It's not like me, but I don't have any pictures of the tunnel.  It was a fun stop for the kids and a nice place to have lunch !

Our last stop for the day was Secret Spire.  The area around the spire is mostly slick rock with a few little patches of flora.  

Firecracker Penstemon

A small patch of blooming Whipple's Fishhook Cacti

 It was fun watching the Johnsons explore and enjoy the spire and surrounding domes.

On Sunday we were up and out the door by 7:15 to meet the Johnsons.  The days adventure was a hike to Corona Arch.  It was a beautiful day and we even had a nice breeze.  Being early is good to beat the crowds on this very popular hike.  It is also doggie friendly so Cooper joined us.  I found myself in camera overload watching Asia, Jake, River and Micah enjoying the day, nature, and just life !  Not one time did either of them complain or fuss and in fact all had lots of fun.  

And Micah, who will be 3 in August, walked the whole 3 miles with the exception of a few steep places. 

  

Micah climbs the ladder...all by himself!

Asia heads up to Bowtie Arch.

River enjoying the shade.

Jake and Cooper take in the view.

There are actually two arches to explore on this hike.  After climbing the Moki steps (carved by Ancient Pueblo Indians into the near-vertical sandstone surfaces) and a ladder installed by the BLM, the trail leads you on top of a large bench of slickrock with sheer drop-offs as the trail takes you under Bowtie Arch.  

Bowtie Arch is a pothole Arch.





















I was happy to see water seeping down the red rock.  I love the color and design and hanging gardens.

 From Bowtie Arch, the trail continues along the slickrock to the base of Corona Arch.

Corona Arch measures 140 X 105 feet wide.  A local bush pilot flew his plane through the arch back in the 80s. 

 It is incredible to tilt your head back and gaze up at the streamer of red rock towering above you with only clear blue sky in the background.

A happy band of trail warriors...

Back row  L to R : Joe, me, Micah, River
Front row L to R : Asia, Cooper, Erich, Jake and Kjersti

We sure enjoyed our time with this awesome family and hope our paths cross again.  So until next time, 

Prince's Plume

Jake, Micah and River taking a break.

Harriman's Yucca

Asia, Jake and River

Stemless Woolybase ( or, Perky Sue )

Asia

Jake leads the way followed by River, Joe and Asia

HAPPY TRAILS !

April Showers...

Gopher Flats
Moab, UT
April, 2019

April has certainly been a rainy month here. We are not complaining though...desert rains are a wonderful thing !  But usually with the rains come strong winds and that part we don't particularly like.  Looks like the last few days of April will be thunder storms and high winds.   

There are lots of lilac bushes at Gopher Flats.  This one is just outside our window at the kitchen table.  











 Another pretty flower here is the Austrian Copper Rose.  


The thorny bush has doubled in size from last year and is full of buds.  These blooms were near the ground yesterday.  

 I LOVE red flowers and these are especially bright.  But what makes them unique is that they are yellow on the under side of each petal.   

I can't believe April will be a memory and May is right around the corner.  My how time flies these days.  

Joe and I volunteered to help with the Benefit Run again this year during Easter Jeep Safari (EJS).  It is a benefit to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  
The trail for the day is Fins and Things.  

About half way through the run, the participants stop at the overlook and we serve them grilled hotdogs with all the fixings.  






Participants make a donation and Red Rock 4 Wheelers matches the total.  

During this week we decided to take our spring drive around the LaSal Mountain Loop.  Our first views were of Castle Valley.  If you look closely, you can see the Priest and Nuns and Castle rock formations in the center of the photo below. 

Did I mention the road is curvy?

  

And that the sky was a beautiful cobalt blue? 

 Or how patiently the winter trees are waiting for warmer weather?

 And that the evergreens stood proud and strong?

Did I point out the glistening snow or the eery shadows that danced along the roadside?

Joe enjoyed a few days working on Wile E.

He replaced the spark plugs, the distributor cap and rotor.  He adjusted my seat so I can see out the front better without a cushion.  For fun, he installed a speaker so we can use the iPod...it's so cool to have some tunes playing when cruising on Main St....insert lots of laughing emojis here !






We now have hummingbirds feeding regularly at the feeder.

    

Sally and I are easily entertained ! 

We also saw a Western Meadow Lark.  Actually, we heard it before we found it sitting on Dee's garage.  I read that the Eastern Meadow Lark has a series of simple, plain whistles.  Not the case for the Western cousins.  



It's a "rich flute-like jumble of gurgling notes descending the scale".    


He just throws back his head, opens wide and sings!  My oh my, what a song he sings !

(I enlarged these photos so they are a little fuzzy.)

As I am about to wrap up  this post, the wind is howling and it's pouring...a hard steady rain.  Sally is in her "safe" place under the steering wheel.  





This past Saturday we had a club run scheduled for Hell's Revenge.  The trail was packed so we cut it short and only did The Escalator.   

Hell's Revenge slick rock...

Dee and Joe and I went to do a quick run up to the Moab Rim overlook.  It's only our second time to run MR in Wile E. Last year when we did it our brakes gave out...thank goodness for boulders !  We were excited to try again hoping for a successful run. 

 Well. it wasn't meant to be.  We slashed the front driver tire coming off a good size ledge and the tire caught a sharp edge on a rock that was jutting out. 

Can you see the slash in between the R and A on the top of the tire.

 The jeeping community is such an awesome group.  We heard jeeps coming and since we were blocking the trail, Dee walked down to tell them we were trying to patch the tire and air it up.  One of the young men offered to let us use his spare and even hauled out our slashed tire on his spare tire holder.  We were so grateful.  

The beautiful view coming down MR.  Thank you Jason.

That wraps up our April.  So, until next time,

Sweet dreams...(photo taken April 19)

 HAPPY TRAILS !