Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tag: courthouse wash

Christmas in Arches 2020Christmas in Arches 2020

Christmas in Arches 2020

Christmas Day | Friday, December 25, 2020

Since Christmas Day fell on a Friday this year, I had booked a hotel room in Moab so we could spend the entire weekend in the area. Of course, this was before COVID struck and changed everything. We had considered cancelling these reservations and figuring something else to do this weekend, but in the end we decided to carry on with our plans. Early on Friday morning Diane and I left home and headed straight for Arches National Park, like we do every year. We drove all the way through the park and made it to the Devils Garden Trailhead shortly after sunrise so we could hike to Landscape Arch to make sure that it is still standing after another year. It’s our Christmas tradition!

CONTINUE READINGChristmas in Arches 2020
1 Comment
Lower Salt Wash CanyonLower Salt Wash Canyon

Lower Salt Wash Canyon

Friday – Saturday, December 14-15, 2018

Salt Wash begins its journey near Thompson Springs at the southern end of the Book Cliffs just east of Sego Canyon. From there it meanders generally south across Yellow Cat Flat and joins up with Lost Spring Canyon inside the boundary of Arches National Park. This desert wash eventually passes by the Wolfe Ranch near the popular trailhead for Delicate Arch as it enters Cache Valley and then carves a deep canyon through Dry Mesa just east of The Windows before finally reaching the Colorado River. I have studied this particular canyon on maps over the years and thought about hiking it a number of times before, but I always seem to find somewhere else I’m more interested in going instead. I haven’t found much information about hiking this canyon and wasn’t sure what to expect, but I guess that is what intrigued me about this location in the first place.

CONTINUE READINGLower Salt Wash Canyon
1 Comment
Bartlett Flat to the Blue HillsBartlett Flat to the Blue Hills

Bartlett Flat to the Blue Hills

Moab Area Rock Art XXXIII | Return to the Yellow Comet Alcove
Saturday & Sunday, October 13-14, 2018

To be honest, I was planning on staying home this weekend after spending most of last week in Canyonlands National Park. However, Diane has been taking a pretty intensive online class for the last month and was finally caught up and wanted to get out hiking and camping this weekend, and since she hasn’t been out hiking since our backpacking trip to Kings Peak over Labor Day weekend, I couldn’t say no! We decided to stay closer to home and take a nice relaxing trip north of Moab. We did a little hiking, drove some bumpy roads, saw some ancient rock art, visited an arch, watched the sun set from the top of a mesa and walked in the footsteps of dinosaurs. It was a good time! Here are a few photos from the weekend…

CONTINUE READINGBartlett Flat to the Blue Hills
4 Comments
Christmas Moab WeekendChristmas Moab Weekend

Christmas Moab Weekend

Moab Area Rock Art XXXII | Saturday & Sunday, December 23-24, 2017

Since we were planning on spending our Christmas in Arches National Park like we do every year, we headed over to Moab on Saturday morning so we could spend the entire holiday weekend in the area. Earlier in the week when I was finalizing our rough plans for the trip I was expecting that there would still be none to minimal snow on the ground for our trip because even though there was a winter storm predicted toward the end of the week, I really didn’t think it would affect the area too much. Boy, was I wrong! Well, actually I was right about the Grand Junction area since we didn’t get any snow that stuck around, however, the storm seemed to be centered right over the area surrounding Moab and dumped about 6-10 inches there! We tried to continue on with our original plans at first, but we ended up having to cancel or change some of the hikes since they would have been too dangerous with all the snow and ice on the ground, even with our microspikes. In the end I acted as a tour guide for Diane as we revisited many easily accessible rock art sites that I hadn’t been to in a while.

CONTINUE READINGChristmas Moab Weekend
1 Comment
Lower Sevenmile CanyonLower Sevenmile Canyon

Lower Sevenmile Canyon

Moab Area Rock Art XXIV | Sunday, April 16, 2017

This year for Easter I decided to head towards Moab for a day hike. I usually try to avoid the Moab area during Easter Jeep Safari week, but I figured that most people would be on their way out of town today and I was planning on hiking somewhere that doesn’t see a lot of traffic anyway. My suspicions were confirmed as I was driving south from Crescent Junction shortly after sunrise and saw a line of vehicles leaving town. This morning I would be hiking down Lower Sevenmile Canyon and into Arches National Park where I could also explore part of Upper Courthouse Wash. I’ve wanted to explore this area for a while and was hoping I’d be able to find some rock art, too.

CONTINUE READINGLower Sevenmile Canyon
2 Comments