Rock Climbers in Arches

On Sunday as we were driving through Arches, on our way to hike back to Landscape Arch, we say some rock climbers scaling one of the towers (I believe it is called the Tower of Babel). These people were singing away and having generally a great time while they were climbing this vertical wall

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Along the River Road (Hwy 128)

The highway back to Castle Valley winds along the Colorado River and there is a lot to see besides the Colorado River. So, take your time when you come and see us or you might miss a few things. For example, this is Updraft Arch. For this you have to stop and get out of the car. Walk back along the road a ways and look up. From the road driving, only the passenger can see it and only for a split second. And, it is worth getting and and seeing. This is only about a mile up the road.
Just past Updraft Arch, is the alligator. There is a nice parking area for river regulations, etc. and no signs at all pointing out this feature. You just have to look for yourself to find him. But, since he is rather LARGE, you really can't miss him.

Yes, I'm standing in the middle of the road. All the traffic at times we have around here makes this possible and this really is the best view of this. I have loved this view ever since the first time I saw it. And driving up the canyon, you can't miss it. And a couple of surprises are just around the bend. Such as...
This great Mushroom Rock. You can pull into a parking area to see this one. This is the area where a lot of people come to practice rock climbing. It's great to watch them. A lot of them bring inflatable mattress in case of falling.


But, these guys didn't. They were fun to watch. It's not something I intend to take up. But they were sure having a fun time. Weekends there are usually quite a few people here at this area and the rock usually have all these white splotches on them from their chalk.

Ice on the Colordao River

I got my pictures downloaded last night and was glad the pictures of ice on the Colorado River came out as well as they did. To me, this is just an incredible site! In some places the water still flows freely and in others, it has to go under the ice. You can see how thick the ice is in areas. How it has cracked and bunched up. As ususal, the pictures really don't do justice to seeing this in person. I had never thought about the mighty Colorado freezing. So this has been really something.

Scott's Family at Arches

I got my pictures downloaded last night so thought I'd post a few of Scott and his family. One of our first stops in Arches was at Park Avenue and Scott took the girls picture there.
I then took a picture of their family. Park Avenue is behind them.
The girls loved climbing around the rocks when we stopped at Courthouse Towers parking area. They didn't want to climb inside this formation but were willing to stand beside it.

Here is what it looked like inside. They could have gone thru the tunnel but declined. But they had a great time anyway.

Trip to Arches with Scott & Family

Scott and his family came down this past weekend and spent a few days with us. We certainly enjoyed having them. On Sunday, we went into Arches. Cara and Allison had never been there. Here are Allison and Madison in front a fallen rock. As you can tell, it was really bright and sunny, but cold!
We all hiked up the windows area and this is the view looking back from Turret Arch. This formation is known as The Spectacles.
We only saw Delicate Arch from this viewpoint. None of us were up to the hike up to it. Maybe this summer we'll make it. Rick has been up several times.
Skyline Arch is just off the road so you don't have to go far to see it. The girls were pretty worn out by the time we got there. They didn't even get out of the car to view it.

Going home, we drove on past the turn off to Castle Valley to show them this view of Fisher Tower. You can see the frozen Colorado River in the foreground. In some places the ice is a foot thick! and all bunched up. It is really something to see. I haven't downloaded my pictures yet but when I do, I'll post some of it that I took, if they turn out. We really had a great time with Scott, Cara, Allison and Madison. Thanks for the visit.

After The Storm

It snowed last night and most of the day today. Just before sunset the clouds started to part and colors were just beautiful.

Again these pictures were taken from our front porch.

New Year's Day Trip

New Year's Day was just beautiful (sunny but cold) so we got up early and decided a drive was in order. We decided to up the Potash Road just outside of Moab and go to Chicken Flats which is supposed to be a fairly easy to moderate four wheel drive. Since the roads are still snow packed and icy in the areas where the sun doesn't hit and we haven't made it above freezing but a day or two we thought this would be OK. Along the Potash Road we say a sign that said Jug Handle Arch and this is what we saw. We had never heard of this one before so were excited to see it. There was a sign for parking so we pulled in and took several shots. Then we noticed another sign further in and it read Longs Canyon so we looked it up in our book and it said it was an easy drive and most 2-wheel drives could make it. So we decided to go there instead.
Along the canyon we came to several icy and snow packed places and several places we would NOT take a car. The views were just awesome. We were really glad we decided to come here. The rock balanced in the center really caught our attention. Then...
as we drove further down the canyon we discovered the rock from another angle and were really surprised!
We came to this rock tunnel and I got out to take the picture and almost fell. The road leading up to the tunnel was nothing but ice. Even Rick admitted in some of the really narrow places the ruts were pretty bad and slick. With the canyon drop off on my side of the FJ, yes, I was a bit nervous at times when we slid a little.

Rick got out and took this shot of the tunnel after we had been thru. You can see all the snow and ruts in the road. And this was a nice wide place and not too bad of a drop off. When this road ended we were at Utah 313 which goes to Dead Horse Point State Park and so we went there. It had really changed since the last time we had been there. It is much improved. However, the sun was at the wrong angle for good photos (although we took some anyway). I'm just not posting them. All in all, we had a lovely morning and then went back to Moab for lunch. Those of you who know us know we love to eat at a place on the Oregon Coast called LeRoy's Blue Whale. I love their finger steaks there. Well, the Golden Stake Restaurant here in Moab also does finger steaks! Not quite as good as LeRoy's, but at least I can get them here and I really enjoyed them. You know we'll be eating there again.