Moab - 10/17-10/21

[Win]

We had our best friends from NJ come out for their annual Utah fix and we headed out to Moab. We had no real plans other than reservations for the Fiery Furnace w/ranger. Trip turned out great with no problems and decent weather.

We arrived in Moab mid day Sunday the 17th, checked into our motel (thanks, Mark) and then headed up to Arches. We did a short hike to Eye of the Whale:



Monday was cloudy with a chance of showers so we headed into Arches to hike to Tower Arch. This is an out of the way hike and we only saw two other people in the area:



The Marching Men along the Tower Arch Trail:



Monday afternoon we decided to do the Shafer Trail from Potash Rd. The weather continued to deteriorate until it was pouring going up the switchbacks.

A stop along the way to take some photos with Dead Horse Pt above us:



The gooseneck of the Colorado from the Shafer Trail:



We went to Dead Horse Pt for another photo op of the gooseneck:



I'll add a few more days as time allows.

Win

[asdf]

[bowjunkie]

[ibenick]

Excellent trip report! Thanks!

[Cirrus2000]

Nice, Win! Any shots of water flow from the rain? Looking forward to more...

[oldno7]

Nice TR Win. Looking forward to more pics.

[Win]

Thanks, folks, I really appreciate your comments. Kev, we never got any shots of running water even though we were in some good rain.

Day Two we had a reservation for the Fiery Furnace. There were 27 people in our group and the hike ran an hour over. The ranger was a botanist and spent way too much time on plants and nature. I expected Al Gore to pop out from behind a rock. The FF is a great place and we enjoyed the hike, tough to get good photos with a crowd and some poor light.

After FF we headed out to Gemini Bridges from RT 191. In retrospect I should have gone up Bull Canyon but decided to just continue to GB.The bridges are really impressive but
better photographed from the bottom, I would guess. We headed out the easy way to 313 and back to Moab.

Overall Day Two was a lot of fun but not many good pictures.

In the Fiery Furnace:





On top at Gemini Bridges, our friends Bob and Doris:

[Iceaxe]

On top at Gemini Bridges, our friends Bob and Doris:

Did you try and talk Bob into jumping the gap so you could get a cool action shot?!?

[Win]

Ha, he did look it over but I told him the story and he backed off quick.

Day Three we headed out to Needles and had a very uneventful day. On our way, we stopped at Newspaper Rock for some photos.

Our plan was Davis and Lavender Canyons but the road is in such bad shape you can't reach the NP boundary. At the VC we got info on Cave Spring and the Chesler Pk Overlook and that Elephant Hill had opened. We chose just to hike and it was fine with wives that get bounced around in the back of the Jeep. We hiked about and then did the Scenic Drive and headed to the Outpost.

Tracey was in a great mood. I was happy that we didn't need to deal with her but my friend Doris was ready to video.

Win

Newspaper Rock, pretty impressive:



Some hand prints at Cave Spring, a short hike:



A few from the Chesler Pk hike, we only went in two miles. There were a lot of people on the trail:

The large mesa in the background is Island in the Sky:



Hope Bob got it right:



A Hamburger:





Th


Win

[oldno7]

Looks like a great trip.

[moab mark]

Nice, glad you had a great trip. Sometimes you gotta love those Rangers on the furnace hikes. Maybe we could get them banned from the furnace for disturbing the peace and quiet.

[Win]

Ha, great point, Mark! Kurt, we did have a great time, thanks for the restaurant tips, worked out real well. We added Miguel's Baja Grill to your list and it was very good.

Last day was cloudy with a threat T-Storms or showers. We headed off to Corona Arch and it was a superb choice. For the afternoon we decided on Negro Bill Canyon and the Morning glory Bridge. Bob wanted to do a hike in a canyon as opposed to on the top and this was really nice.

We were going to do a short hike on Friday but the weather didn't cooperate so we headed home.

Win

Uncooperative skies but here's Corona Arch, I've seen better pictures:







Bowtie Arch, has nice little drip with a tree just below it:



Morning Glory Bridge:

[Cirrus2000]

Nice, Win! Sounds like you guys had a really good trip, in all.

Every time I'm in Moab, there are two stops I must make in town: Morning coffee at the Arches Book Company, and fish tacos at Miguel's. Talked a few others into going there last year...



Negro Bill to Morning Glory is one of my fave hikes in the area. Not demanding, just a nice pleasant ramble in a beautiful spot.