Category Archives: Utah

adventure, Attractions, Nature, Utah

Arches and Big Water

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From the land of hoodoos, we headed toward Denver, then dropped down again into southern Utah, to a quirky, high-energy town called Moab.  This was our center for Arches National Park, and rafting the Colorado.  We were far above the Grand Canyon, so no worries there.IMG_3106

Arches is another playground of the Divine, an eerie, haunting, and yet whimsical distortion of the ground under our feet. Or more precisely, the rock under the ground under our feet.

Formed in several different ways, the Arches are living things. Or at least in a constant journey somewhere between birth and death. While there are 1,200 arches in the park (many far out of sight of all but the most archesadventurous), once one understands the process of formation, one can actually see birthings and death throes of arches.  The trick is to see in geological time.

Talk about humbling.  To photograph something, to stare at it, when to it, I am less substantial than last week’s clipped fingernail. But enough zen.

We did several hikes in Arches, and also connected with a really fine outfitter in Moab. Since five-year-olds were allowed on the river–okay , we hoped they wouldn’t card our four-year-old–I thought, how bad can it possibly be?  I groused about the need for a guide, but Jen was insistent.  IMG_3095Wives are so wise.

We had a wonderful ride, and the two older boys traveled the whole trip in a double duckie–a kind of inflatable kayak.  It was for the use of anyone in our raft, but the guys were having so much fun I think no one wanted to displace them, which was kind of our rafting mates.

We had a wonderful picnic lunch mid-day at a small rocky beach.  Our guide knew the river well, and did a great job of chatting us up during the trip about the wonders of southern Utah.  We were sold, and Moab is an amazing, quirky village in the red high desert.  But we had only one day to enjoy the surroundings, after losing a day waiting out snow.

We would love to return one day to the Moab area. It would be an awesome place to have a family vacation, but it is probably a bit more crowded in the summer.  Everything is a trade off, and Moab is a long way from Maryland, but it has a great deal to recommend it.

Onward to southern Arizona!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

adventure, Attractions, featured, Outdoors, Utah

The Straight Up Land

One of the rangers in this extraordinary country in southern Utah said the Native Americans referred to the surroundings as the Straight Up Land.  photo(70) It is easy to see why.

To me, visiting Zion is like being down in the Grand Canyon.  Of course it is not as big, but maybe that’s the point. The way to reduce the Grand Canyon to manageable size, in my experience, is to go in.  photo(69)Not far. Just a little walk is all it takes, but it’s a way to begin to bring its immensity to scale.

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The only way to see Zion!

In Zion National Park, as in Yosemite, you spend most of your time, if you follow the standard approach, looking up from the valley floor.  Zion has a great shuttle system to control the flow of visitors inside the park.  Though we groused at first–we usually skip them when they’re optional–we loved the shuttle. We could get off and on to do short hikes whenever we pleased, and the shuttle ran often. Thankfully, it also had a sun roof, since one spends a great deal of time in Zion looking–right–straight up.

We also saw an elk, who was less impressed with us than we of him. Or her. photo(72)

The next day, we visited another product of the unique gyrations of the Colorado Plateau over the last 60 million years–Bryce Canyon National Park. There, a perky young ranger at the information desk assured us that the  Queen’s Garden was an easy hike for a four-year-old.  Fun for the whole family, she beamed!

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The hoodoos: perpetually on watch.

Bryce Canyon, the land of hoodoos and other whimsical feats of Ma Nature.  Zion and Bryce would both be on our list of recommended parks.  Not too far apart, but different as night and day. And both worth a trip off the beaten path to explore.

We now have a rule that before we ask about hiking trails for youngsters, we ask if the rangers have children of their own.  We also have decided that when the park service labels a hike moderate, the designation is to make a point about how out-of-condition most of us are.  I get that.