Saturday – Sunday, December 28-29, 2024
For the final weekend of 2024 I returned to the sandstone landscape surrounding Moab and met up with a friend so we could spend another weekend exploring, hiking, camping and searching for some petroglyphs that I have been trying to find for a while, and we ended up having a lot of luck this time! We were also treated to the sight of fog filling up some of the valleys on both mornings which made for some photogenic conditions, even if it did slow down my drive to Moab quite significantly on Saturday morning. I’ll start off this Trip Report with a few photos from the sunrise I watched at Arches National Park on Sunday morning since it was a great way to close out the year. I hope you all have a great 2025!
The subtle light at dawn on Sunday morning was very colorful as I watched it illuminate the Courthouse Towers.
Three Gossips & Sheep Rock
Tower of Babel
I drove over to Panorama Point at sunrise and found that Salt Valley was filled with fog.
A distant view over the fog to Dark Angel and Devils Garden.
Fog & Fins
I liked the layers of the fog, sandstone towers and Book Cliffs of this setting.
Fog and the Fiery Furnace
This was a nice little petroglyph panel we stumbled upon this weekend.
Three Sheep
This was certainly my favorite find of the weekend and a panel I’ve been looking for for a while.
Here’s a look at the more faded left side of the panel.
I think this might be a mountain lion?
Many Dots
Here’s one more straight on view of this amazing petroglyph panel.
Headless
This site had a ton of very old petroglyphs that were very hard to see and photograph, but there was a lot going on here.
This spiral was on a narrow ledge that was a bit of a scramble to get up to.
This was one of the more interesting petroglyphs we saw this weekend.
Split Man
One Pecked Sheep
Fading petroglyphs with a great view!
Since I was camped at Sand Flats Recreation Area, I was able to wander the rimlands above Rill Creek and saw the fog in the valleys below.
Rill Creek Overlook
Rill Creek
An afternoon view over the Mill Creek Canyon Wilderness Study Area.
Sandstone Hills
Stearns Wash
I caught the tail end of the fog on Sunday afternoon as I drove home along the Colorado River.
Dry Mesa Point
Butte in the Clouds
