Easter Week Hiking in Moab Area - Day 1 and 2

Been planning this trip with my three daughters for some time; many thanks to Shane and his website for the great info on many of the hikes we did this week. Yea, it was Jeep week, but we were still able to find a lot of solitude.

Sunday, April 13 Dino Tracks and Bones

Stopped at the Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackway on the way into Moab. Cool little site for a quick stop. Hard to find all the tracks the map shows are there, but the big ones are pretty obvious.
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Nearby are some fun rocks to climb on, including a great "pride rock" for posing.
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A little further down the road we turned off to visit the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail. A neat little trail to get up close to dinosaur bones in the wild.
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Pretty view down Mill Canyon from the dino trail
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As we got to the end of the trail, the butte above was calling to us, so we scrambled up the north side.
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It was steep, but not difficult, and there were a couple obvious routes to the top.
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Great views back into Arches NP and of the surrounding buttes.
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And a lot of fun just wandering and climbing around the slickrock and fissures. But it was windy and we were hungry, so we soon found our way back down and headed into Moab.
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Monday, April 14 Petroglyphs, Arches, and Ruins

We started the morning heading to the Owl Panel, and made it to the trailhead before the Jeeps started up the trail. This was a great little hike, awesome petroglyph panel, and wonderful views. Just pay attention to Shane's directions. Shortly after leaving the jeep trail, you see this pretty little alcove where the trail climbs up to the upper bench. We missed that and followed what looked like the trail to the right along the lower bench. Oops!
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I remembered the panel was somewhere near the blind arch in the wall, so we ended up scrambling up the boulders directly below the arch.
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The girls went off exploring to the right of the arch (which is really big when you get right next to it), and I noticed a circular pictograph painted in the left side of the arch. But where was the owl?
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Then I remembered the map with the picture and the route lined out on it that was folded up in my pocket. Duh! Open the map, there's the route we were supposed to take. So look to the left - there's the owl!
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The owl panel was really nice, one of the best we saw this week. A great place to sit and enjoy the view. And we got to watch as the long line of Jeeps started their way along the trail.
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Other petroglyphs along the wall towards the arch.
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On the way out, we followed the real trail back, and found this boulder with a couple nice animal figures and some interesting lines just past where the trail drops down from the upper ledge (to the left if you were headed up the trail)
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After a quick stop at the Birthing Scene, we continued up Kane Creek Road to visit Funnel Arch. An easy climb leads to this dryfall, which is pretty easy to scramble up until the last crack before the top.
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The last crack is a little intimidating for amateurs, and two of my daughters decided to stay below. It probably wouldn't be so bad if it were at ground level, but it is at the top of a dryfall, which leaves you quite a ways to fall. My oldest and most adventurous found handholds and climbed the crack and guided me up.
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The rest of the way to Funnel Arch was fairly simple, and the arch was cool more for its location and how you get there. Go past the arch to the edge of the cliff, though, and you get a great view across Kane Creek Canyon, to the arch by the Owl Panel, and beyond to the Colorado River.
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I was a little concerned about going back down the crack and got out a rope, more for moral support. It ended up being easier going down, except for the view of how far you would fall. Having done it once, a repeat trip would be much easier; however, the less adventurous should probably pass on this hike.
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Headed next to Corona Arch, one of my favorite hikes in the area that gives you a lot of bang for a little bit of effort. But first we stopped at the Potash Road dino tracks, which I had passed up on previous trips.
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Lots of petroglyphs along the base of the cliff.
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And even a little arch up the side canyon (anyone know if it is named?)
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OK, now to Corona Arch. Not a trail for solitude, but a chance to visit with other people and share your amazement at the beauty that surrounds you. Along the trail to Corona Arch, a cool-looking cairn graveyard had been created since my last visit.
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I just love this view of Bowtie and Corona Arch! I even had a picture of this view from a previous trip printed on my ATM card.
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The backside of the base of Corona Arch had some great reflected light and interesting colors.
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After Corona, it was off to False Kiva, hopefully to get there before the shadows invaded the alcove. This was really a nice hike. After crossing through the juniper forest on top of the mesa and bypassing the dryfall, the wall of the alcove containing False Kiva appears.
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The trail drops down and crosses the cliff below the alcove, never too steeply, and the ledge is never uncomfortably narrow. The colors in the alcove wall were beautiful as we crossed below False Kiva.
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We had passed one group of people on our way in, but no one else was around and we had the place all to ourselves. Silent. Awe inspiring. Easy to see why it would be a sacred place.
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The girls scrambling down the trail show the scale of the large alcove where False Kiva is found.
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We finished the busy day with a stop to see the Intestine Man and TV Sheep panels just off the road on the way back to the main highway, Great, quick stop, though late evening is not good light for pictures. Back in Moab we found our way to Paradox Pizza, which capped off a perfect day.

Nice trip.