Moab Day 7 Sand Flats Recreation Area

Hiking in the Sand Flats Recreation Area on the day before departure was on our agenda right from the start.  With just a 15 minute drive to the trail head, I could relax a little longer in the morning and have more time in the evening to lounge around. The forecast was for perfect, the mid 20's.  I did not have the best sleep and I felt very tired as we headed out.  That all changed though and I felt at my strongest today, maybe it took all this time to get use to hot weather hiking.  The temperature did rise above the forecasted digit and hit the 30 mark.  As with all vacations I take, the day before departure, I make an extra effort to absorb in as much scenery and spice of the area as possible.  I live in the moment, and try not to let my mind wander back to reality quite fully yet. I take a little more time to remember to breathe and to be appreciative and thankful that I am even here.  I think back to the birth of the idea to come here and the work involved to make it happen and then to be grateful everything fell into place and here I am.  No matter what, given hot or not, and wanting to end on a high note, like every other vacation time, upbeat high-spirited and happy are my forefront features for this day!

                                                  we pass through our gate at home

                                     we pass through the gate at the Sand Flats playground

I had no idea what we would be in for today, but I loved the lay of the land right out of the gate. 

                                     looking deep down into the canyon

We started at the trail head with a few mountain bikers but then they were long gone.  Then we had our first mingling with the 4X4 folks.  They had their own trail and we shared ours with the bikers.  The trail markings were fun to follow.  I was impressed how the different sporting activities could occur at the same time in the same place without interference of each other.

I would guess that 98% of our trail was slick rock, the balance was sand.   The bikers pretty much needed to follow the white dotted line whereas we could go wherever we safely pleased.  We had a wonderful view of the La Sal Mountains.  

                                                     along the way

Seeing the morning glory flowers was a pleasant surprise.  We were high above yet very close to the Morning Glory Bridge we hiked to two days ago.  

                                   formations in the center of this playground 

We saw mountain bikers, runners, 4X4ers, and now dirt bikers.  As you can see from the top of his helmet, he too wants to record his adventure.   I enjoyed watching others having fun.  

                                   What a view we had of the Colorado River.  

                          the Colorado River, the La Sal Mountains, the slick rock

                                                  mountain bikers 

                                     another view of the Colorado River

                                                      cloud coverage

                                                       mountain biker

The views were vast in all directions.  In the far off distance you can see Arches National Park from one end to the other.  We could pick out an arch but I was not sure which one it was.  

By early afternoon, we found a slick rock formation to climb up onto for a second longer break and to polish off what was left for lunch.  We were in a prime position to witness the enjoyment others were having.  Four 4X4s waiting their turn to descend the step slick rock slope.

Then, there they go, probably to the same place we would now be heading.  As it was nearing the end of the hike, it was time to aim for the trail head and parking lot and then to our home away from home.

We covered 17 kms and the total elevation gain was roughly around 600 m give or take a few.  What a most enjoyable day & way to cap of six days straight of hiking. I appreciated and was grateful
for every  second along today's way.  For me this playground represents what Moab itself is all about.

Moab Day 6 Island in the Sky

We have been pushing this day forward for a few days waiting for a favourable (cooler) forecast and that day finally came.  We left home early to arrive early at Mesa Arch in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands.  The plan was to watch the sun rise.  After that, we would enjoy breakfast and then hike the Alcove Springs Trail.

We arrived at Mesa Arch parking lot to see only a few other cars.  I was O.K. with this, I did not want a coveted spot at the Arch but I hoped there would be some vacant space. We hiked the kilometer in the dark and upon arrival, I told my friends how it worked and what the lay of the land was. They maneuvered in and got their coveted spots.  I stayed to the right this time.

                                                  the sun begins rising

                                         the underside of Mesa Arch as the sun rises

We stayed a little while to get a few photos from different vantage points then decided it was time to carry on with our day.  I took one last look back from up along the trail to see a few folks still savouring the scene.

Then there was no more looking back, only forward.  Then I saw our shadows and thought of sun and heat.  But today would be cooler!  We made our way back to the car, it was feeling warm so layered down, then had breakfast.

                                               

We reached the Alcove Springs Trail parking lot.  It felt cool enough that I did not bother zipping the bottoms of my pants off.  We climbed down, then down, I am wondering, then down some more, It feels hot....

                                              

.....I am thinking, even more down, it feels hotter, down some more, I begin to worry, then I make my declaration!  This reminded me of going down into the Grand Canyon.

It was getting hotter the further down we went and I was concerned with it reaching 100 degrees F and climbing back out in those temperatures.  For me, safety always comes first and I needed to play safe so decided I would not be carrying on with this hike. We were not even at the bottom yet, but this was my turn around point.  The others were OK with this, so our climb back up began.

Back at the car, we revisited how we would attack today and agreed upon hiking a few shorter overlooks.  The first then would be the two overlooks at Upheaval Dome.  As it turned out we were able to hike up to 5 kms of ground cover on each hike so our total for the day did tally to high. This was the view from the first Overlook.

                                     our group shot at Upheaval Dome Overlook

                                     view from the second Overlook

Going beyond the second Overlook offered fun route finding and scrambling along on slick rock.  We thoroughly covered lots of area here then began the hike back.

 

Another overlook where we could get some distance would be the Murphy Overlook.  The trail head is the same as that for the Murphy Hogback Loop which I did back in the day but you stay straight after a short distance of hiking.

                                              view along the way

                                       just before the main overlook area

After reaching the Murphy Overlook, we explored a bit to find an area not so windy where I could safely set up my tripod.  This is our group shot, sitting safely from those wind gusts.  We snacked then began the hike back.

Visiting the Grand View Point at the end of the road was next.  This was another overlook where we could pack on a few more kilometres.  Large cairns showed us the way.  We had grand views far below and beyond.

                                                 view along the way

                                                              at the end

It was crazy windy by now but I was fine with that. It kept the temperature at a decent digit which made for enjoyably being out and about.  Beside this boulder section was a lovely shaded spot, we made it our place to dine so settled down for a visit.  Then it was time to hit the trail for one last look out before heading home.

That one last overlook was the Shafer Overlook just off the side of the road, so no hiking necessary.  If you look closely in the shade on the bottom left, you will see the vehicle we watched slowly maneuver along.         

We put our experience to work today and found a way to save the day.  I enjoyed seeing the many different sights.  We still worked our way up to just under 20 kms of hiking.  

                 

Moab Day 5 Fisher Towers & Morning Glory

Fishers Towers

A closer day to home was needed today in preparation for tomorrow.  Though, we still packed in 20 kilometres of hiking on possibly the hottest day yet, it may have hit 36 degrees Celsius.  Our drive was short so we were able to be home earlier to rest and prepare.

We arrived soon after sunrise to hike the Fisher Towers trail.  I hiked a small portion of it back in the day, today's plan was to head in further and higher until we could go no more.  There were two other vehicles in the lot, so others also wanted to beat the heat while climbing.  It was very soon into the hike when the views opened up and we had them the entire trek. 

What was not to love here, we had pinnacles, spires, towers, blue sky, clouds, some hiking, scrambling, route finding, a ladder, a natural bridge! We had it all. We worked our way in behind the Fisher Towers....

                            .... to where we had a full on golden view.

                             The further in, the closer we made our way to The Titan!

                                        

The sensational scenery was never ending.  There were so many unique things to admire, big and little, like this display of mini cairns.  Back and beyond, we did fully rely on cairns to show us the way.  They lead us....

....to more and more beautiful views.  The ground cover was fun to be on, it is amazing how sticky that slick rock is and how so sturdy you can be on steep slopes.  The clouds danced all day and as the morning went on, a breeze developed.  My hope was that it was bringing in cooler temperatures.

                                                seeing forever

                                                    The Titan from further back.

                                    

We made our way to our planned spot and stopped for snacks.  It was still too early for lunch.  The place was a bit precarious for destination shots so opted to save that until later.  This is that later spot.  We purchased technical shirts at Dead Horse yesterday, so decided to wear them today and present a pose to show them off.

                   my happy to be here shot up front and Center with The Titan

On the return portion of the hike, we found a spot in the shade for a proper lunch to fuel up before driving down the road to begin our second hike of the day, into Morning Glory Bridge.  Today I felt like maybe I was getting a handle on hiking in the heat.

Morning Glory Bridge

After not that long of a drive, we arrived at the parking lot for the hike into Morning Glory Bridge.  By now it was scorching hot again but I remembered this hike having shade and lots of time beside a creek and pools of water.  I was surprised the further in we hiked, the damage to the trail we found.  There was obviously flooding since my visit back in the day and the trail was unrecognizable in parts.  There was a bit of route finding too because of the damage.

colorful cactus

There were many many creek crossings and I was thankful for that.  I cooled down my hands every chance I got.  In sections, the pools were large enough to offer up reflections and of course, I needed to capture that. 

We arrived at Morning Glory Bridge and enjoyed the shade and the reflections and a snack.   I stood under and looked up and remembered when I repelled off the side of the wall next the Bridge.  

reflections

After our snack and savouring sthe peace and quiet, we made our way back along the trail.  

I took one last look back and one last photo of where we just came from.

Today, I looked forward to getting back to our home away from home and enjoying more time relaxing.  Our days have been long and busy and I really needed some down time.   It was a short drive and I was luxurating in no time.

I have no BaseCamp info or elevation profiles to share for these two hikes.  I accidently deleted them from my collection and had already deleted them off my GPS.