This past week we got away to Moab, Arches NP, and Canyonlands NP. Everytime we go there I am just amazed at the beauty in that area of the country. Our first stop was at Chris and Maren's house.........since we had not visited there place for a while (maybe 4 years). We arrived in Moab and after talking to the locals we decided to eat at Susie's Branding Iron which was delicious. Sadly we were so stuffed that we couldn't try her homemade pies. Monday morning we took off for Arches NP (Arn enjoyed using his Senior Pass). This was our 4th time in the area but we never tire of seeing the beauty. I really wanted to do the Delicate Arch hike so that was our first stop. I was surprised at the number of people in the park. After thinking about it we realized it was a great time to travel for people our age (empty nesters, before school gets out, not too hot). The DA hike is labeled strenous/difficult but it's not that hard. It took us about 1 1/2 hr. and we even spent about 30 -45 min. at the top.
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| Three Gossips |
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| Balanced Rock |
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| Petroglyphs |
After leaving the DA area we checked out the rest of the park (we had been there with the kids and had done alot of the hikes before (we thought we'd do the Fiery Furnace - full), and went to Devil's Playground (couldn't get a parking spot). We ended up playing golf at the Moab Golf Club which was in beautiful shape, not crowded, and very scenic. We had a beer with Mary (a 16 yr. local who told us a lot about Moab, locals, and the other local golf courses. I even played well and shot under 100 which is great for me (94)!!! After golf we took off on a loop drive starting near the La Sal Mts. and ending in Castle Valley (think John Wayne western scenery - many movies filmed in the area). We had dinner at the Broken Oar (another locals recommendation) - very good.
We woke up Tues. to rain so we headed to Canyonlands NP. There is so much to see there and we think it is even better than the Grand Canyon. We were in the Island in the Sky section . There are many pull off areas to view areas and many short hikes. Again, we'd been there with the kids years ago but it was enjoyable again since I only had to worry about Arn getting too close to the edge of things. One of the longer hikes we tried was Upheaval Dome. Someday we are going to get down into the floor of the canyons (would love to take a jeep tour). I'm not sure I could handle the drive down the switchback near the Shaffer Overlook but we would probably come in off of Potash Rd.
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| Upheaval Dome (meteor site) |
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| Monitor and Merrimac |
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| Upheaval Dome |
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| Add caption |
We stopped at Dead Horse Point State Park (used as a horse corral long ago and the cowboys rounded up a bunch of mustangs out to the point, picked the best ones, left the others without water - they died with the sight of water down below). This was a park that shouldn't be missed (can see why Utah kept it). Absolutely beautiful!
After getting back to Moab we stopped at Twisted Sister for tapas and then headed to Milt's Stop and Eat (the oldest restaurant in Moab - an old fashioned ice cream/hamburger joint) . Mary (our after golf friend) said that it was no longer owned by Milt but was being kept original in lots of ways and let us know that Milt had passed away last summer. We split a burger, had a couple of malts, and looked at their notebooks on the history of the place.
We left for home on Wed. am and stopped in Glenwood Canyon to hike to Hanging Lake. It's been on my bucket list for quite some time and is one of the most popular hikes in Colorado. It was listed as difficult due to some rock climbing. We thought it wasn't that hard. It was designated as a National natural landmark in 2011. It is like a rain forest enviroment with it's own ecosystem and was really beautiful. We hiked most of the hike in the rain with out rain jackets (stupid). We didn't do the short hike up to Sprouted Rock due to the rain (pic off the net).
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| For some reason.........I love cairns. |
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| Before it started raining...... |
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| A nice little rain shelter...........which we did use. |
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| Under the water falls - taken by a guy we met from Israel |
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| Had to use the railing and climb up the rocks to get to the lake. |
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| Sprouting Rock |
So..............we were wet and cold so we hit Moe's for BBQ in Eagle on the way thru town. FYI - seems like a great little town (Chris and Maren just bought a house there and you can see their neighborhood as you drive thru the area).
Geologically
speaking, there are few places in the world that can compare to this
marvel of Mother Nature. Hanging Lake is a rare example of a lake formed
by travertine deposition where the natural geologic and hydro-logic
processes continue to operate as they have done throughout the history
of the lake. The site is also noteworthy for its thriving hanging garden
plant community. Because of these qualities Hanging Lake was designated
a National natural Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 2011. -
See more at:
http://www.visitglenwood.com/hanging-lake#sthash.uGMWLr4e.dpuf
Geologically
speaking, there are few places in the world that can compare to this
marvel of Mother Nature. Hanging Lake is a rare example of a lake formed
by travertine deposition where the natural geologic and hydro-logic
processes continue to operate as they have done throughout the history
of the lake. The site is also noteworthy for its thriving hanging garden
plant community. Because of these qualities Hanging Lake was designated
a National natural Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 2011. -
See more at:
http://www.visitglenwood.com/hanging-lake#sthash.uGMWLr4e.dpuf
Geologically
speaking, there are few places in the world that can compare to this
marvel of Mother Nature. Hanging Lake is a rare example of a lake formed
by travertine deposition where the natural geologic and hydro-logic
processes continue to operate as they have done throughout the history
of the lake. The site is also noteworthy for its thriving hanging garden
plant community. Because of these qualities Hanging Lake was designated
a National natural Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 2011. -
See more at:
http://www.visitglenwood.com/hanging-lake#sthash.uGMWLr4e.dpuf
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