Really, it must be Moab, if you see these on the streets:
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Showing posts with label Moab Utah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moab Utah. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2015
It Must Be Moab, Street Stuff :: Winter Sojourn 2014/15
Copyright 2015, CABS for Reflections From the Fence
Really, it must be Moab, if you see these on the streets:
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Really, it must be Moab, if you see these on the streets:
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Wednesday, April 8, 2015
The Last Week Spent in the Red, the Marvelous, the Unbelievable :: Winter Sojourn 2014/15
Copyright 2015, CABS for Reflections From the Fence
Man and I have been moving about Utah, Arizona for several weeks. We have seen unbelievable beauty. We have seen stone, rocks, shapes, mystery, surprises, colors of grey, black, white, cream, orange, multiple shades of red, burgundy, bright red, yellow, blue/gray, green, pink and some purple.
We experienced so much there is no way to record it. We drove up to and over 8900 feet towing Tana. We drove a lot of miles, paved roads, 2 lane high ways and a bunch of dirt/gravel roads.
We saw high desert, the Colorado River several times, canyons, vistas that go for miles and miles. We saw horses, mostly domestic, but a few wild ones too. Cattle, deer, sheep, bison, birds, and a few skittish little creatures, mammals and reptiles. NO SNAKES!!! YA! We saw snow, just for the record.
We saw vehicles of every shape and form. Camping equipment, dirt bikes, ATV's and who knows what else. Boats, trailers, rigs boondocking, rigs in campgrounds. Variety counts!
We took a number of hikes, the last one in Capital Reef at well over 5500 feet with lots of inclines and steps.
We had some odd things happen, for instance, when we were preparing to leave Monument Valley, Cappy managed to get himself in the very back of Tana with the slides closed. No, I did not close the slides with him running around, as I always hold him in my arms during that process. But, I did leave him in Tana with slides closed and went out to assist Man in hooking up. I had never done that before, and I will never again. SIGH. Retrieving him involved some climbing on a chair, laying on my belly on the table and a very long stretch, all the while he was talking, err, barking at me. He did not like being stuck back there, I can tell you that!
We drove the 17 mile Valley of Gods dirt road. It was dry. I was happy.
We drove through Monument Valley in Jolly. Jolly got very red. LOL
Then, there is this, which may now be one of my most fav photos, and it was not planned this way. I was doing a panoramic photo and Man walked into the side of it. I just kept going, figuring I could delete. No deleting this beaut!
We drove Scenic 95 on our way to Capital Reef. A very long day so filled with beauty I am still overwhelmed.
Tana and Jolly had a photo op in the Glen Canyon Recreation area:
The scenery changes constantly:
We visited Capital Reef, which may be one of the most beautiful National Parks we have. Shhhh, don't tell anyone, or it will become too popular.
We drove out of the Capital Reef/Torey Utah area on Utah 72, another scenic route, the summit is 8975, yes, we found snow, not much, but, snow:
We are now at Moab, tired, worn out and exhilarated.
I have taken over 2200 photos since March 31st.
We were pretty much "disconnected" from the net from March 31st till April 7th. Sprint did not like me trying to access the internet via my phone and roaming while we were in Torrey. They froze my phone for a month. Just on roaming data, but, really?? SIGHHHH. We expected to be disconnected in Monument Valley, did not expect such horrible campground wifi in Torrey. I screamed several times (poor Man) that I HATE HATE HATE campground wifi. I always have, and apparently, still do, and always will. Verizon (my iPad and our air card/modem) has never heard of the Capital Reef area. No cell company has 100% coverage in the USA. Verizon sure failed in this specific area. At least the phones are Sprint and sorta worked.
The dry climate and the high altitude have had some affect on our bodies. We are busy hydrating and resting.
It was GRAND!!
* I will undoubtedly share more photos of this last week at some time in the future. It's gonna be a while tho.
.
Man and I have been moving about Utah, Arizona for several weeks. We have seen unbelievable beauty. We have seen stone, rocks, shapes, mystery, surprises, colors of grey, black, white, cream, orange, multiple shades of red, burgundy, bright red, yellow, blue/gray, green, pink and some purple.
We experienced so much there is no way to record it. We drove up to and over 8900 feet towing Tana. We drove a lot of miles, paved roads, 2 lane high ways and a bunch of dirt/gravel roads.
We saw high desert, the Colorado River several times, canyons, vistas that go for miles and miles. We saw horses, mostly domestic, but a few wild ones too. Cattle, deer, sheep, bison, birds, and a few skittish little creatures, mammals and reptiles. NO SNAKES!!! YA! We saw snow, just for the record.
We saw vehicles of every shape and form. Camping equipment, dirt bikes, ATV's and who knows what else. Boats, trailers, rigs boondocking, rigs in campgrounds. Variety counts!
We took a number of hikes, the last one in Capital Reef at well over 5500 feet with lots of inclines and steps.
We had some odd things happen, for instance, when we were preparing to leave Monument Valley, Cappy managed to get himself in the very back of Tana with the slides closed. No, I did not close the slides with him running around, as I always hold him in my arms during that process. But, I did leave him in Tana with slides closed and went out to assist Man in hooking up. I had never done that before, and I will never again. SIGH. Retrieving him involved some climbing on a chair, laying on my belly on the table and a very long stretch, all the while he was talking, err, barking at me. He did not like being stuck back there, I can tell you that!
We drove the 17 mile Valley of Gods dirt road. It was dry. I was happy.
We drove through Monument Valley in Jolly. Jolly got very red. LOL
Then, there is this, which may now be one of my most fav photos, and it was not planned this way. I was doing a panoramic photo and Man walked into the side of it. I just kept going, figuring I could delete. No deleting this beaut!
Tana and Jolly had a photo op in the Glen Canyon Recreation area:
The scenery changes constantly:
We visited Capital Reef, which may be one of the most beautiful National Parks we have. Shhhh, don't tell anyone, or it will become too popular.
We drove out of the Capital Reef/Torey Utah area on Utah 72, another scenic route, the summit is 8975, yes, we found snow, not much, but, snow:
We are now at Moab, tired, worn out and exhilarated.
I have taken over 2200 photos since March 31st.
We were pretty much "disconnected" from the net from March 31st till April 7th. Sprint did not like me trying to access the internet via my phone and roaming while we were in Torrey. They froze my phone for a month. Just on roaming data, but, really?? SIGHHHH. We expected to be disconnected in Monument Valley, did not expect such horrible campground wifi in Torrey. I screamed several times (poor Man) that I HATE HATE HATE campground wifi. I always have, and apparently, still do, and always will. Verizon (my iPad and our air card/modem) has never heard of the Capital Reef area. No cell company has 100% coverage in the USA. Verizon sure failed in this specific area. At least the phones are Sprint and sorta worked.
The dry climate and the high altitude have had some affect on our bodies. We are busy hydrating and resting.
It was GRAND!!
* I will undoubtedly share more photos of this last week at some time in the future. It's gonna be a while tho.
.
Friday, September 9, 2011
THE Trip, Arches National Park, The Last Hike, Broken Arch, The Final Steps
CABS for Reflections From the Fence
After my little excitement of sliding down the Broken Arch, and a little bit of a rest, Man and I set off to hike the rest of the loop trail, back to Big Butt. Along the way we have two interesting encounters with other hikers. The first was with a lovely couple from Germany, they were hiking the loop in the opposite direction, and, doing so, they had actually scampered UP the Broken Arch. We chatted with them both times we met, and enjoyed both discussions. We also were passed by a class of young kids with a lot of adult supervisors on a field trip. I cannot be sure that they were on the same hiking loop we were, as there was another trail they could have been on. I wondered, did they really slide down that huge rock? I can tell you that they caught up to us while we were climbing a long incline between some fins (very cool, very cool!!!) and they practically ran up that long incline. Ah, to be young again, eh??
Below: a photo of Man on that "fin" climb, the afternoon sun was really setting off glares and the tall fins were casting off deep shadows. It was fantastic!
Below: another photo, as we climbed further into the fins, no, there are not enough photos in the world to capture all this beauty.
Below, photographic proof that sometimes even Man had to work to get to the next level of the hiking trail. All I can say, is thank goodness for Utah pines!
In any event the last part of our hike was filled with more beauty, every corner you turn brings more interesting and stunning red and white rock formations, different shapes to continually excite one's soul.
And, thus ended our 11 nights stay in Moab Utah, it is time to move on, 2 days drive from here is Bryce Canyon National Park. What wonders await? Stay tuned. It will be an adventure, lots of views, a hunk of weather, a couple of sensational hikes and a bit of really bad electric service in one of the campgrounds.
.
After my little excitement of sliding down the Broken Arch, and a little bit of a rest, Man and I set off to hike the rest of the loop trail, back to Big Butt. Along the way we have two interesting encounters with other hikers. The first was with a lovely couple from Germany, they were hiking the loop in the opposite direction, and, doing so, they had actually scampered UP the Broken Arch. We chatted with them both times we met, and enjoyed both discussions. We also were passed by a class of young kids with a lot of adult supervisors on a field trip. I cannot be sure that they were on the same hiking loop we were, as there was another trail they could have been on. I wondered, did they really slide down that huge rock? I can tell you that they caught up to us while we were climbing a long incline between some fins (very cool, very cool!!!) and they practically ran up that long incline. Ah, to be young again, eh??
Below: a photo of Man on that "fin" climb, the afternoon sun was really setting off glares and the tall fins were casting off deep shadows. It was fantastic!
Below: another photo, as we climbed further into the fins, no, there are not enough photos in the world to capture all this beauty.
Below, photographic proof that sometimes even Man had to work to get to the next level of the hiking trail. All I can say, is thank goodness for Utah pines!
In any event the last part of our hike was filled with more beauty, every corner you turn brings more interesting and stunning red and white rock formations, different shapes to continually excite one's soul.
And, thus ended our 11 nights stay in Moab Utah, it is time to move on, 2 days drive from here is Bryce Canyon National Park. What wonders await? Stay tuned. It will be an adventure, lots of views, a hunk of weather, a couple of sensational hikes and a bit of really bad electric service in one of the campgrounds.
.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
THE Trip, Arches National Park, The Last Hike, Broken Arch
CABS for Reflections From the Fence
I last left you with a photo of approaching Broken Arch while hiking in Arches National Park. Below: After a few more steps, getting closer to the arch. The trail is a soft sand, and off to both sides you will note Cryptobiotic Soil Crust, the link goes to a series of photos of soil crust on Reflection's Flora and Fauna.
Below, the trail turns from sand to slick rock, see that sign to the left of the photo??
Here is what that sign says:
And, below, this is why this arch is named, Broken Arch.
One more view of the arch:
Man took Sony outta my hands and snapped off a couple of photos of Moi. You will note I am smiling. Looking relaxed too.
After our little photo op, we head up the slight rise to see what is on the other side of the arch, here is Man, he is almost there - -
And, this is what you see when you stand right under that arch:
What it does not really show, because for one thing I did not really capture the truth of the matter, and I don't have 3D photography to really show it to it's best - - but, this is a drop off. I am gonna try to be conservative and say, it was about 20 feet down, no steps, no handrail, just slickrock. Yes, this is the trail, the sign said so, and in the bottom left corner, just out of the shadow of the arch is a cairn. The trail goes right down that huge slippery hunk of red rock. This next photo was taken when I got down, and again, the photo does not do justice to what the reality of how tall and long that rock was.
No, you cannot really appreciate how far down it really was. There was a shiny spot on that wall of red where a lot of other hikers had scampered up, or crawled up, or slid down - - because you can hike this trail from two directions, one way you slide down the rock, the other way you scamper/crawl up.
Man came down on the far left (of the above photo) and I tried to follow his lead, but, well, I got to a point that I could not go further. Well, I WOULD not go further, it was too steep for me. So, I carefully proceeded to the other side, maybe about the middle, oh, all right, I will admit it, I am not quite sure any more.
Anyway, this turned into a 'slide down the rock' event. Slide down the rock on my bottom, a 'long slide down' event. Long slide down and oh, my, 'can I sit down for a few minutes' at the end of the slide event. I need a break at the end of that long slide down, 'got water and a snack?' event.
I was not exactly smiling, nor was I relaxed any more either.
I am happy to report that slickrock does not tear one's jeans. I am also happy to report that Man did not get photos of my 'sliding down the rock on my back end' event. And, I have to say, I am really glad I did not have to scamper UP that rock, because as unnerving as the slide DOWN was, there is no way I could have scampered up. Maybe about 30 years ago, but, not now. And, I will admit that I was rather concerned about getting down there without rolling or falling down, without breaking an extremity.
Now, if you remember, when I started chatting about this last walk in Arches, I stated that the park brochures stated this was an "easy" hike. After hiking two hikes in Arches, both of which were supposed to be "easy", I have to wonder, who rated these things "easy"? I also readily acknowledge that it is doubtful that I could do "moderate" to "difficult" hikes. Especially if those hikes all contain these rocks that I have to manage to slide down.
One concern that Man and I had and always have, is that we don't want to be taking a helicopter ride out of the "backcountry" . We don't want to get injured, we still have a long long bucket list of places to visit on THE Trip. Bryce Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone and more await. And, so does Salt Lake City, the research mecca. If one of us gets hurt, THE Trip comes to an abrupt and unhappy end.
But, I slid down the red rock, and survived to tell the story, no harm done. After a brief rest Man and I returned to the trail, turning one more time to take in the Broken Arch.
Broken Arch, did not break ole Carol! The hike is not quite over, and the scenery continues to be special and delightful, onward - -
.
I last left you with a photo of approaching Broken Arch while hiking in Arches National Park. Below: After a few more steps, getting closer to the arch. The trail is a soft sand, and off to both sides you will note Cryptobiotic Soil Crust, the link goes to a series of photos of soil crust on Reflection's Flora and Fauna.
Below, the trail turns from sand to slick rock, see that sign to the left of the photo??
Here is what that sign says:
And, below, this is why this arch is named, Broken Arch.
One more view of the arch:
Man took Sony outta my hands and snapped off a couple of photos of Moi. You will note I am smiling. Looking relaxed too.
After our little photo op, we head up the slight rise to see what is on the other side of the arch, here is Man, he is almost there - -
And, this is what you see when you stand right under that arch:
What it does not really show, because for one thing I did not really capture the truth of the matter, and I don't have 3D photography to really show it to it's best - - but, this is a drop off. I am gonna try to be conservative and say, it was about 20 feet down, no steps, no handrail, just slickrock. Yes, this is the trail, the sign said so, and in the bottom left corner, just out of the shadow of the arch is a cairn. The trail goes right down that huge slippery hunk of red rock. This next photo was taken when I got down, and again, the photo does not do justice to what the reality of how tall and long that rock was.
No, you cannot really appreciate how far down it really was. There was a shiny spot on that wall of red where a lot of other hikers had scampered up, or crawled up, or slid down - - because you can hike this trail from two directions, one way you slide down the rock, the other way you scamper/crawl up.
Man came down on the far left (of the above photo) and I tried to follow his lead, but, well, I got to a point that I could not go further. Well, I WOULD not go further, it was too steep for me. So, I carefully proceeded to the other side, maybe about the middle, oh, all right, I will admit it, I am not quite sure any more.
Anyway, this turned into a 'slide down the rock' event. Slide down the rock on my bottom, a 'long slide down' event. Long slide down and oh, my, 'can I sit down for a few minutes' at the end of the slide event. I need a break at the end of that long slide down, 'got water and a snack?' event.
I was not exactly smiling, nor was I relaxed any more either.
I am happy to report that slickrock does not tear one's jeans. I am also happy to report that Man did not get photos of my 'sliding down the rock on my back end' event. And, I have to say, I am really glad I did not have to scamper UP that rock, because as unnerving as the slide DOWN was, there is no way I could have scampered up. Maybe about 30 years ago, but, not now. And, I will admit that I was rather concerned about getting down there without rolling or falling down, without breaking an extremity.
Now, if you remember, when I started chatting about this last walk in Arches, I stated that the park brochures stated this was an "easy" hike. After hiking two hikes in Arches, both of which were supposed to be "easy", I have to wonder, who rated these things "easy"? I also readily acknowledge that it is doubtful that I could do "moderate" to "difficult" hikes. Especially if those hikes all contain these rocks that I have to manage to slide down.
One concern that Man and I had and always have, is that we don't want to be taking a helicopter ride out of the "backcountry" . We don't want to get injured, we still have a long long bucket list of places to visit on THE Trip. Bryce Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone and more await. And, so does Salt Lake City, the research mecca. If one of us gets hurt, THE Trip comes to an abrupt and unhappy end.
But, I slid down the red rock, and survived to tell the story, no harm done. After a brief rest Man and I returned to the trail, turning one more time to take in the Broken Arch.
Broken Arch, did not break ole Carol! The hike is not quite over, and the scenery continues to be special and delightful, onward - -
.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
THE Trip, Arches National Park, The Last Hike, Tapestry Arch
CABS for Reflections From the Fence
Man was ready for another hike, we had one day left in Moab before we would hit the road again, heading for Bryce Canyon. We decide on a hike in Arches National Park. We had at least 2 brochures to study to assist in our decision on which hike we would attempt. We had the Arches National Park Visitor Guide dated 2010 No. 3, which on page 4 shows the hikes divided by their estimation of difficulty. There is no way we are going to try anything more than Easy, based on previous walks we had taken at various parks. We also had the brochure handed to us when we entered the park. Both guides stated that the Broken Arch Trail was easy, about 1.3 miles round trip and should take us 30 to 60 minutes. Well, we have already proven there is NO way we can do this in 60 minutes, I stop too much to gawk and take photos, we know it will take us close to twice that amount of time.
We have water, hats, sunscreen, walking sticks, snacks, extra battery for Sony, and of course, Sony. We are ready to go. Let's hike! Just minutes after we begin, this is the view:
Below, sections of the trail are soft sand:
Up the trail a bit further there is a sign announcing Tapestry Arch, 300 yards. 300 yards? Yep, gotta go have a lookie see. Here is Man scampering over a dead Utah pine, beyond, the trail abruptly turns from soft sand to slickrock. I actually chose to go right, ducking under another Utah pine, around most of this pile of limbs, as I felt a bit uneasy with the width of the trail. Ya, I picked what looked like the "easier" path. LOL
After we scamper up that slick rock and follow the cairns over a few more, here is Tapestry Arch. You should seriously consider clicking on the image, for the larger version, click your browser back button to return here to Reflections:
A bit closer look courtesy of Sony and photo editing:
Back on the trail, red red slick rock and formations continue to fill us with awe:
The trail has changed from rather deep soft sand to a harder packed surface. Much easier walking.
Our first view of Broken Arch, our "destination" ??
Next, we shall take you up to the Arch, and beyond. It is getting to the "beyond" stage that proves a bit challenging for Reflections.
* Now you know I take way too many photos, yes, I do. Some have asked, what does Man do while I am busy shooting TOO many photos?? Well, here, have a lookie see:
.
Man was ready for another hike, we had one day left in Moab before we would hit the road again, heading for Bryce Canyon. We decide on a hike in Arches National Park. We had at least 2 brochures to study to assist in our decision on which hike we would attempt. We had the Arches National Park Visitor Guide dated 2010 No. 3, which on page 4 shows the hikes divided by their estimation of difficulty. There is no way we are going to try anything more than Easy, based on previous walks we had taken at various parks. We also had the brochure handed to us when we entered the park. Both guides stated that the Broken Arch Trail was easy, about 1.3 miles round trip and should take us 30 to 60 minutes. Well, we have already proven there is NO way we can do this in 60 minutes, I stop too much to gawk and take photos, we know it will take us close to twice that amount of time.
We have water, hats, sunscreen, walking sticks, snacks, extra battery for Sony, and of course, Sony. We are ready to go. Let's hike! Just minutes after we begin, this is the view:
Below, sections of the trail are soft sand:
Up the trail a bit further there is a sign announcing Tapestry Arch, 300 yards. 300 yards? Yep, gotta go have a lookie see. Here is Man scampering over a dead Utah pine, beyond, the trail abruptly turns from soft sand to slickrock. I actually chose to go right, ducking under another Utah pine, around most of this pile of limbs, as I felt a bit uneasy with the width of the trail. Ya, I picked what looked like the "easier" path. LOL
After we scamper up that slick rock and follow the cairns over a few more, here is Tapestry Arch. You should seriously consider clicking on the image, for the larger version, click your browser back button to return here to Reflections:
A bit closer look courtesy of Sony and photo editing:
Back on the trail, red red slick rock and formations continue to fill us with awe:
The trail has changed from rather deep soft sand to a harder packed surface. Much easier walking.
Our first view of Broken Arch, our "destination" ??
Next, we shall take you up to the Arch, and beyond. It is getting to the "beyond" stage that proves a bit challenging for Reflections.
* Now you know I take way too many photos, yes, I do. Some have asked, what does Man do while I am busy shooting TOO many photos?? Well, here, have a lookie see:
.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
THE Trip, Canyonlands National Park, The Island in the Sky District, Our Last Look
CABS for Reflections From the Fence
Still driving around Canyonlands National Park, the Island in the Sky District, really! Let's start with another spectacular view. Buck Canyon, from several different vantage points.
Another, breathtaking view, stop, enjoy, please start breathing again. Thank you.
Switchbacks take you to the valley floor. (Susan, you might want to turn away 'bout now.) It is this type of road that the park rangers suggested that Big Butt would have trouble making the turns on. I mean, really, some of those turns look like they are right on the edge of the dropoff, by the way, the dropoffs can go down as much as 1,000 feet or more. Slight ouchie if you miss, eh??
And, our last photo from our wonderful, fabulous, outta this world, visit to Canyonlands, Island in the Sky district:
Our time in Moab is growing short, but, we manage to revisit Arches National Park one more time, for a hike. Oh, yes, the scenery is special, and yes, ole Carol managed to snag a story out of the hike. Come on back and see what kind of trouble I can get into next.
.
.
Still driving around Canyonlands National Park, the Island in the Sky District, really! Let's start with another spectacular view. Buck Canyon, from several different vantage points.
Another, breathtaking view, stop, enjoy, please start breathing again. Thank you.
Switchbacks take you to the valley floor. (Susan, you might want to turn away 'bout now.) It is this type of road that the park rangers suggested that Big Butt would have trouble making the turns on. I mean, really, some of those turns look like they are right on the edge of the dropoff, by the way, the dropoffs can go down as much as 1,000 feet or more. Slight ouchie if you miss, eh??
And, our last photo from our wonderful, fabulous, outta this world, visit to Canyonlands, Island in the Sky district:
Our time in Moab is growing short, but, we manage to revisit Arches National Park one more time, for a hike. Oh, yes, the scenery is special, and yes, ole Carol managed to snag a story out of the hike. Come on back and see what kind of trouble I can get into next.
.
.
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