Easter trip to Utah
Sunday, April 19th, 2009
Old juniper in Arches
This year we decided to skip the traditional Easter rituals of egg-dying and cooked ham in order to head to the desert. It had been a few years since we’d taken a family vacation, primarily because my husband is a wildland firefighter and is gone a great deal of the summer. After enduring storm after storm, the desert sounded pretty good, so we headed to Moab, Utah.
Moab is in southeastern Utah, close to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and right on the Colorado River. We stayed at a campground north of town with a view of Arches and the La Sal Mountains. We were very happy to be outside of town since Easter weekend coincided with the annual Jeep Jamboree this year, so Moab was pretty packed. However, the parks weren’t tremendously crowded. And people willing to hike, like us, were able to get away from the most groups of people.
Arches National Park is fairly small in comparison to most parks we’ve visited. There’s really just one main road through the park with most hikes short and close to the road. Since the soil is so fragile, walking off the paths is strongly discouraged, though we noted footprints of many offenders. Two longer hikes I’d strongly recommend are Devil’s Garden and Tower Arch. Devil’s Garden is at the furthermost end of the road in the park. There is a 7.2-mile loop that you can do, but most people do only part of it, just up far enough to look at a few arches and then they leave the way they came. However, if you do the whole loop, you’ll have long stretches of trail to yourself. Less people meant more lizards, which our daughter appreciated. Coming from lizard-less Custer, they are rather a novelty.
The other trail, which we had nearly to ourselves, was Tower Arch, located on an unmarked road in the northwestern part of the park. This area is rarely frequented by most tourists, while it’s on the map, the road has no sign and is gravel, hence, most folks aren’t willing to drive on it. It was my favorite hike of the trip, quiet and fabulously scenic.
In addition to hiking and taking photos, there was a lot to learn about the geology of the area. The primary rock types are Entrada and Navajo Sandstone. Entrada is the rosy rock while the Navajo is light tan; together they look like a layer cake.
Thunderstorm over Canyonlands
Canyonlands is exactly what it sounds like – canyons. The Colorado and Green Rivers have cut through the sandstone (Kayenta and Navajo), creating canyons, pinnacles and arches. Canyonlands is considerably larger than Arches with miles of hiking trails, including backcountry ones. We had just one day there and marked it down as a place we’d definitely need to return to in order to spend more time. However, if you’re not a fan of heights, don’t stand too close to the edge; the drop-offs are dizzying.
It was a fun, but fast, trip; we all agreed it had been too long since our last one. Our daughter fell in love with the desert and is eager to go back. Both my husband and I were gratified to see that we have raised a girl who was happy to go make-up and hair-appliance free for a few days and who was interested in the rock formations and lizards, not bored or disgusted. It was a great way to start our spring.