We are back in Utah! This time we entered from the southeast as opposed to the northern border. This welcome sign is indicative of the warmer southern climate (the northern welcome sign has a skier).
We set up camp at Horsethief Campground which was about 30 miles northwest of Moab.
Since we are dry camping, we needed to fill our fresh water tank. Scott rigged a Mountain Dew bottle so that it would work as a funnel when adding water. Works perfectly!
After we settled in, we took the bikes off the truck and rode some trails that are in the area of the campground. We cruised on Chism Trail to Mustang Loop back to Chism Trail. I’ve been upgraded to “blue” trails! Later that evening, I was mesmerized by the eastern clouds in the sky and how their color changed at the same time the western sky was changing colors. The pictures below were taken two minutes apart. The warm colors we’re amazing!
The next day we drove to Canyonlands State Park. It was only a 20 minute drive from our campsite. We stopped to park in the lot for Upheaval Dome. Geologists do not exactly know what caused this crater. They think it may have been a meteorite or a salt dome upheaval. Hence, the name.
Upheaval Dome is a 4-mile, round trip hike climbing up and down rocks to see various canyon views.
We continued to the second overlook.
At one point, I had petered out and let Scott continue climbing up for another viewpoint. See him in the clouds waving?
We try to alternate hikes and bike rides to give our bodies a break. The next day we drove to the very popular Dead Horse Point State Park and rode our bikes on The Intrepid Trail.
This is was mostly a blue trail with a few black sections. Mountain biking trail colors are the same as ski trails: green=easy, blue=intermediate, black=difficult. There were some scary parts where the unlevel trail was quite narrow and very high up. I did dismount a few times when my nerves got the best of me. Halfway through, we took a break to admire the view. Scott snuck a picture of me while I had a nice conversation with my girlfriend. Breathtaking view!
On Saturday, October 6th, we took a drive on White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park.
This rocky, unpaved dirt road is 100 miles long, and there are several sight seeing pull offs along the way. It is for 4WD vehicles only. It starts out flat and wide.
Before long, you are traveling up the canyon. Notice the winding road. At some points, it is only wide enough for one vehicle.
Our first stop was at the Colorado River overlook.
I walked it and Scott followed with the truck.
Our next stop was at Mussleman Arch.
It is hard to see the definition of the arch in this picture. Scott wanted me to stand on it. I told him to go stand on it. Notice how there are no models gracing this arch.
We ran into a group of mountain bikers who were on their last of four days biking and camping across the 100 miles. Scott wants to do that someday. I think I will pass.
It was raining on and off but we did get out of the truck every now and then to admire the plants and walk around and out on ledges.
We turned around after about two hours as we knew 100 miles was not in the cards for us today. I had been fading and dozing off for some time, and Scott decided it was my turn to drive. I initially objected, but he convinced me that it would wake me up if I got involved. My favorite photographer was shooting short videos of the historic event, and created the following video for your entertainment.
