Adventure

Erik turned 8 today! He is an incredible boy, I am so lucky to be a part of his life! Erik’s birthday wish was to go to Moab. How could I deny that request?! We hit the road Friday morning, and visited the Sego Canyon rock art panels, and Sego ghost town on the way. The Sego Canyon rock art panels are very impressive. The panels span many Native American cultures, with some paintings dating back to 7000 B.C. A couple more miles up the canyon are the remnants of the mining town of Sego. There is an interesting graveyard, and a very well preserved two story rock building. Most of the other structures have collapsed. After checking into our lodgings for the weekend we headed to Arches. We had planned on going to Tower arch because it is off the beaten path, and requires four wheel drive to get there. But we were running out of daylight because we spent so much time in Sego Canyon. So we took some short hikes to Sand Dune Arch, and Broken Arch. Saturday morning found us preparing for a day on the trail. We ran the first section of Fins ‘n’ Things, then headed over to Hell’s Revenge. What a great trail! We stopped at the Colorado River overlook for lunch, and a little exploring. We explored Hunter Canyon later that evening. Hunter Canyon is a side canyon along Kane Creek Road. It is a beautiful box canyon that is approximately 2 miles long. It is a pretty flat bottom canyon, with great cottonwood trees and tons of desert flora. Approximately half a mile into the hike, way up on the side of the canyon is Hunter Arch. It is very impressive, but a little camera shy. I did my best, but was unable to capture the fullness of the arch. Sunday morning we packed up and checked out of the hotel. We headed back to Arches for some more exploring. We spent some time at the Arches National Park Visitor Center, which Erik thought was fascinating. Then we headed for the windows section, and a short hike to Double Arch. The boys like Double Arch because it is in Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. We took the Willow Springs Road out of the park instead of heading back to the entrance. Along the way we stopped to study the dinosaur tracks, we do have a Palaeontologist in training that made sure of that. We had an incredible time celebrating Erik’s birthday. We love the desert, and can’t wait to get back for more exploring.

The boys and I played hooky and spent an awesome day exploring Little Sahara sand dunes with Uncle Dan! What fun! Everything i was ever taught, or ever believed about driving off-road was thrown out the window! Instead of taking it slow and keeping the vehicle horizontal, I was encouraged to gas it and race around the sand dune bowls tipped forty five degrees to the side! The boys had a blast launching themselves off the sand dunes. When we got home they were as caked with sand as the Jeep was!

Most of the sand at Little Sahara is the result of deposits left by the Sevier River, which once flowed into ancient Lake Bonneville about 15,000 years ago. After the lake disappeared, the winds that flow across the Sevier Desert picked up the sand. Sand Mountain (a 700 foot tall mountain of sand) in the middle of the dune field, deflected the wind upward, causing it to slow and drop its load of sand. The quartz sand particles fell downwind among the sagebrush and juniper around Sand Mountain creating a 124-square-mile system of giant, free-moving, sand dunes.

Here are some pictures, and a video:

The Boys and I joined Uncle Dan and the Wasatch Cruisers 4×4 club on a trail ride up Rattle Snake Canyon on Saturday morning. Rattle Snake Canyon is out near the Five Mile Pass Recreation area, the approximate GPS coordinates of the area we were exploring are: 40° 16′ 40.01″ N 112° 11′ 37.45″ W. It was a blast wheelin’ in the snow, and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves exploring the abandoned silver mines and collecting bones! On this trip Ol’ Red turned 100K! I can’t believe it, she is 12 years old now and sporting another digit on the odometer. I’ve posted a bunch of photos below. I hope you enjoy them, we sure had fun making them! The Boys kept telling me “Dad, this is the funnest day ever!”

We had an awesome time in Moab a couple weeks ago with Jonny, Noemi & kids. We hit Dead Horse Point on our way down. It was Mo & the boys first time to the point. Instead of heading all the way back to Highway 191 we drove down Long Canyon and Pucker Pass to Potash Road. What a great drive! It offers views of Moab you don’t get to see all the time. The next morning we loaded up and tackled Hell’s Revenge. Epic! It is no accident that Hell’s Revenge is one of Moab’s flagship trails. There is a thrill around every corner. We ran into Johnny Lange on the trail, and watched him tackle Hell’s Gate. Wow! We took a short drive up Kane Creek Canyon on Sunday. Took a hike up a side canyon, and visited the birthing rock. It was interesting explaining to the kids what was hanging between the legs of all the people in the rock painting. And of course, we visited the rock shop. A trip to Moab is not complete until you visit the rock shop.