Month: September 2017

Most of the trails in Arches National Park are well-marked and open for self-navigation. But there is one very cool section of the park that is restricted to ranger-led tours and a limited number of back-country hiking permits every day – it is called the Fiery Furnace.

Don’t the formations look like little furnace chimneys?

One of the reasons access is limited to this area is to minimize human impact to the fragile environment – but the other reason is that it is a freaking maze back here!

 

There are secret canyons, surprise arches, amazing viewpoints, and some very cool scrambling throughout the hike.

There were 14 people in our group on the three-hour hike. It was very cool to learn that eight of the hikers were a part of what they called the “Baby Group” – they had all been friends since the births of their first children 35 years ago and they vacation together every few years.  How cool is that?

Even though we did this hike the last time we were here we knew we wanted to take it again this trip.  Because of staffing limitations they are down to one hike per day and we had to sign up almost a week in advance!  But it was well worth it – such an amazing landscape and a terrific way to spend the morning!

 

It’s windy in Moab… I mean REALLY windy. Yesterday we had gusts up to 40 mph plus all day (and all night). Today it is a bit better, but still really windy.

When you live in a house, it is easy to take the weather for granted. Unless it is extreme, the elements just don’t really make much difference when you have four solid walls. But when you live in a trailer, even the slightest weather can make you sit up and take notice. Or, as in our case for the last few days, sit up in bed all night unable to sleep because of all of the wind noise.

Darryl is a very light sleeper – so of course this wind storm we’ve been having has made the last few nights quite sleepless for him. But this wind has even kept ME up at night – and this is the girl who has not only slept through bears in camp but has even slept through ELEPHANTS walking through our campsite (yes, Elephants… long story).

It’s just another thing to get used to during this trip – and since this is the first “bad” weather we’ve had in our five months on the road I can’t complain. That said, I’m hoping the weatherman is right that the winds will die down later today and we’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight!

The first time we came to Moab together was about 10 years ago – it was one of the first “big” national parks I had ever been to and the first out West. Having lived in Colorado for many years, Darryl has been here a bunch of times – but this is still his favorite national park.

The last time we were here was in the Spring – and while I don’t remember nearly as many tourists that last time (and not as much road construction in the park) this place is still magical.

The thought occurred to me yesterday that this is a long way to come to see some holes in the rocks… but they are pretty impressive, don’t you think?

I definitely see a Baja Bunch reunion in this area sometime soon – tons of off-road riding, hiking, rafting… and a brew pub! What more do you need?

We’re enjoying it so much we are staying for another week!