moab // ADVENTR.co

Moab Winter Weekend

Moab Area Rock Art XXV | Saturday & Sunday, December 26-27, 2015

We woke to clear skies but much colder temperatures on Saturday morning. I still wasn’t feeling too good this morning so we decided to visit the rock art along the Hidden Valley Trail. This particular hike is not too long and very close to town, plus I’d already hiked it a few times in the past and Diane was interested in visiting some new rock art this weekend. I also knew that this trail wouldn’t be too difficult with the fresh snow on the ground as long as we had our microspikes with us.

Christmas in Arches 2015

Christmas Day | Friday, December 25, 2015

The early morning drive from Grand Junction to Arches National Park on Christmas morning was a bit slow since it had started to snow overnight and would continue to do so throughout the day. I wasn’t feeling 100% after coming down with a cold earlier in the week, so we decided to head straight to the Devil’s Garden for our annual Christmas hike to Landscape Arch to make sure that it is still standing after another year. I’ve hiked this trail in the winter for the past 8 years but this time it was the slipperiest I have ever seen it! After slipping and falling twice on the sheet of ice that was hidden beneath the fresh powder we put on our microspikes which made the rest of the hike much easier. After our visit to Landscape Arch we decided to visit Crystal Arch nearby which neither of us had been to before. It was nice to get off the main trail and have this arch all to ourselves. While we were visiting Crystal Arch started to snow pretty hard creating whiteout conditions for our hike back to the trailhead.

The Lower San Juan River

Mexican Hat to Clay Hills Crossing
Tuesday – Saturday, May 12-16, 2015

For the past two years a few friends and I have floated the upper section of the San Juan River from Sand Island to Mexican Hat during the month of May. It’s a very nice section of river, but this year we wanted to do something different, so we attempted to get a permit for the lower section of the San Juan River from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills Crossing. My friend Jackson was lucky in the permit lottery and we received our first choice of dates on the river, plus we were even able to secure our preferred reserved campsite, too. For once our plans came together nicely and easily!

8 Comments

Devils Garden Primitive Loop

Saturday, February 21, 2015

This weekend Diane and I went on another day trip to Arches National Park so we could hike the Devils Garden Primitive Loop. It has been a number of years since I last hiked the loop so I was looking forward to getting back, and this would be Diane’s first time hiking beyond Landscape Arch. We left bright and early on Saturday morning and made it to the Devils Garden trailhead shortly after the sun had come up. Good thing we weren’t planning on photographing the sunrise this morning since it was still pretty overcast when we started the hike.

1 Comment

President’s Day Weekend on Cedar Mesa

Saturday – Monday, February 14-16, 2015

Diane and I spent Valentine’s Day and the long President’s Day weekend on Cedar Mesa for our very first camping trip of the year. We setup our base-camp at the Natural Bridges National Monument campground and enjoyed the beautiful spring-like weather all weekend. The temperature never dropped below freezing at night and was a very comfortable mid-sixties during the day. It was nice hiking weather in the middle of February and a great time to get outside to explore the Colorado Plateau! We spent the weekend revisiting a few ruins and searching remote canyons for new ones. Here are plenty of photos from our weekend adventure!

10 Comments

Tag: moab

Moab Winter Weekend

Christmas in Arches 2015

The Lower San Juan River

Devils Garden Primitive Loop

President’s Day Weekend on Cedar Mesa