“... AND THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT!”

Wednesday, September 11 -  With skies clearing and the sun peaking out, we headed to Dead Horse Point State Park early this morning. This is a State Park so our America the Beautiful senior pass didn't cover the $10 admission price, but it was well worth it!

We hiked over 10 miles today! The first nine miles were on the Colorado River Trail. We began with the East Rim Trail.

The trail is very well marked with cairns the entire way. The cairns come in all shapes and sizes.

What spectacular views of the Colorado River and surrounding canyons.

 Basin Overlook

We then connected to the West Rim Trail.

The Neck

Meander Overlook

No, Paul, that is not what they mean by overlook!

Shafer Canyon Overlook

Rim Overlook

Big Horn Overlook

The hike was a little tiring for our old, out-of-condition knees, but we survived. We did stop for a little lunch of sandwiches and trail mix along the way and carried plenty of water. Thank goodness it was cooler today. If we were still hovering in the high 90's (in the 70's today), we would of found ourselves short on water. We each carried a big water bottle....next time maybe 2 each!

If you plan to hike this trail, it is rather easy. Be sure to have your hiking boots on. Even though you will walk through thick sand, this is no place for sandals.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

THE RAIN STOPPED…OFF FOR A RIDE

Tuesday, September 10 – Again this morning we had a downpour (over 1.60 inches in two days). It finally stopped around 1:00 p.m., so we “hit the road.” We checked into hiking but the rangers were advising hikers to stay out of the canyons and off slick rock because of possible flash floods and the risk of falling on slippery rock. Most of the trails we are interested in hiking have been closed by the forest service. The following are from the Arches and Canyonlands websites…

THE NEEDLES
Scenic Drive: open
Elephant Hill Access Road: closed…Where we begin our needles hike.
Colorado River Overlook: closed
Elephant Hill: impassable due to flood damage
Lavender Canyon: impassable due to flash flooding and quick sand
Davis Canyon: impassable due to flash flooding and quick sand
Salt Creek/Horse Canyon: impassable due to flash flooding, quicksand and cut banks

Wolfe Ranch/Delicate Arch and Salt Valley roads are closed due to flash flooding. Willow Flats 4X4 road is impassable. The roads will remained closed through the end of day 9/11/13.

There were many other warnings, so we took a ride through the La Sal Mountains and Forest and down the canyon along the Colorado River.

Moab waaaaay below.

It was further than we thought (over 3 hours) with tons of switchbacks and some pretty steep grades.

We were surprised to see so many cabins located in the mountains. They sure must like their solitude.

We found a little friend.

The return trip along the Colorado River is very beautiful. We sure love the red rock cliffs.

We also stopped along the way at the Red Cliffs Lodge and neighboring Castle Creek Winery. The Lodge is gorgeous! It would sure be an amazing place to stay or hold a wedding. What a wonderful setting among the red cliffs.

Red Cliffs Lodge

The winery was fun as usual. Free tasting, so we took advantage and sampled several of their wines. Marsha purchased a couple bottles for next summer's wine tasting party with family. She loves parties!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

WE SAW CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK…SORT OF

Monday, September 9 – This is what we woke up to Monday morning.

With NOA predicting a 70% chance of rain and possible heavy thunderstorms (They call it MONSOONAL MOISTURE), we decided to delay our hikes and instead drive through Canyonlands NP. Utah has been getting hit pretty severely with thunderstorms lately, and we don't want to experience one of those flash floods.

Didn't get to see much in Canyonlands. It's been raining pretty good here. Almost a half inch of rain has fallen today according to Paul's rain gauge. That's enough! This area of Utah only averages 9" per year and less than an inch average in September. Rain, Rain go away!

In case you have never been to Canyonlands when it is raining, here is what it looks like.

So much rain so fast, there were little water falls every where.

The Colorado River was picking up speed…fast!

We saw this for about 5 seconds, then it was gone.

We need to get moving on our hikes. We've already extended our stay in Moab a week and changed travel plans.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!