Big Day in Canyonlands National Park May 8, 2011

My high hopes for today were exceeded way beyond what I imagined!  

Adventurer Designer was to pick me up at 4:25am.  I went out at 4:20am only to find her already sitting there waiting for me!  There was no needing an hour or so to wake up and get with it, we were in ready-to-go-right-now mode.  From doing our homework, we knew we needed to arrive at Mesa Arch very early to get one of the very few spots for the perfect sunrise photo.   We were fourth and fifth to arrive and set up our spot right at the front.  I knew other photographers would be there but never imagined they would be professional photographers from all over the world.  It surprised me they were interested in chatting with me, someone without a tripod and aiming with a point and shoot.  When the sunrise started, it was all business for the next 15 minutes or so.  This is my perfect shot of "The Mesa Arch Sunrise"!  I never imagined I could get such a shot with my camera.

Our big hike planned for the day after the Famous Sunrise, was to complete the full Murphy Hogback loop.  We had breakfast, geared up then hit the trail.  Our adventure began on this sandy, flat, straight trail that went on for about two kilometers.   It was a nice trail to get into a hiking groove on.

We reached where our descent would begin and heard folks chatting.  As it turned out, they were packing up the little white tent sitting on the edge in the middle of the photo below.  Lucky them, they got the one and only site for the night.  We admired the basin below, our first destination!

It was a long steep descent with a few switchbacks. The trail went along ledges, over boulders, on top of slickrock, even across a wooden bridge covering a rock slide.  While descending, I was already thinking of the ascent up this at day's end.

When we reached the bottom, I realized that no matter how much work we did, we would not be reaching a summit today.  Today's hard work would be getting us to a bottom which was also a part of our destination.  I had to have my shot,  no summit shot, but here is my "bottom shot"!

This trail is up there for being one of the most unique places I have ever been.  A portion of our trail was along the White Rim Road.  After seeing this, I now know why it is called that! The view ahead of us here was unreal, we were surrounded in unrealness.  I just made up that word!  We made a plan to reach the spot where the trail met the road before we took a longer break.

We found one of the very, very, very, very few sheltered spots to have lunch.  The buzzing, far off noise we thought possibly a plane, turned out being this jeep.  It just came out of no where over a hill.  It sure looked like fun!  We wondered what they thought of us sitting there, in the heat of the desert, out in the middle of no where.

There was a shirt in Moab with a saying on it "this girl gets dirty but cleans up nice"!  

Well, I got dirty but wasn't cleaning up nice!  

But you do know that I do clean up nice, right!

The trail conditions took a toll on my boots, feet and legs.  At this point, we are only at the half way mark.  

I took care of the situation with another layer of sunscreen, clean pair of socks and duct tape on my boot!

It was a long slow climb along the couple of kilometers of White Rim Road but well worth the efford.   The road led us out of the basin and up onto Murphy Hogback where there were two tiny campgrounds.  These camp sites had out-of-this-world views. 

We stopped on top of the Hogback for snacks, to rest our feet and to enjoy the amazing view before our eyes.  We were thankful it wasn't sweltering hot like yesterday's +38C.  We had a few kilometers to go before we reached where our ascent would begin.  This Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands is simply amazing.  We tried to make some time on this portion of the trail because we knew hiking out of the wash would be challenging.

Before starting the ascent, we took one last longer rest.  The wind was picking up and clouds were rolling in.  I'm O.K. with clouds but wasn't happy with the wind especially when it gusted while we were on the narrow ledges.   In the few years that I have been hiking, I have been the one to need guidance, my hand held at times while receiving supportive advice.  After these few years, it suddenly, out of the blue, came time to pay it back!  For me what happened next I consider an added bonus.   We all have our phobias and things that scare the sh__ out of us and it's not snakes for me.  As I stepped foot to pass a large rock, a 4 to 5 foot, green snake was about to slither in front of me but slithered away in the opposite direction.  We found out later that seeing a Western Racer is a rare thing!  We walked back a number of meters and gathered composure.  I gave the support needed and then we carried on.  For a short section, we ran, threw rocks and yelled loud!  I'm sure we were quite the sight!  We then quickly finished the last couple of kilometers back to the car.

If Mesa Arch and Murphy Hogback were all we got to experience today, I would be thoroughly overjoyed but that wasn't the end of our day.  We cleaned up, I tried to as much as I could, then went to see more sights in the area.  Have you seen the movie "Thelma & Louise"?  This is Shaffer Trail, the road at the end of the movie.  We had an outstanding view of forever!

Adventure Designer comes by her name for a reason, she choose to drive a portion of that Shaffer Road.  The warning sign at the beginning of the road brought out the chicken in me, I got out and walked and let her go on, praying she came back from around that corner soon.  It was a relief when I saw the little silver car backing up around the corner!

We stopped by the main lookout at Dead Horse Point State Park. I had been here a few days ago but it was morning time.  Now it was sunset time!  We started the day with a sunrise and wanted to end it with a sunset.  We took a few photos of the amazing Island in the Sky scenery while waiting.  One of the professional photographers from the Mesa Arch Sunrise was here too waiting for the sunset.  It was like we were long lost friends, the way we were greeted by him!

Two many clouds rolled in and we didn't get the sunset shot we hoped for but this kind of scene isn't shabby at all to end a day!  

What ever feeling is greater then feeling pleasantly depleted then I felt that at this day's end and I know I wasn't the only one feeling it!

I will never forget today!  

I felt like I was "on top of the world" from sunrise to sunset and every second in between!

Morning Glory & Fisher Towers May 7, 2011

I was surprised to see how two places that were a few mere thirty minutes apart could be so absolutely different in every way.  Both the Morning Glory Canyon (also known as Negro Bill Trail) and Fisher Towers are along Scenic Highway 128 east of Moab.  I hiked out of Morning Glory a few days ago after canyoneering but it was just our means to the end, it wasn't an enjoy the journey hike.  There had to be a reason it is called Morning Glory and that was our motivation to hike it in the morning and save Fisher Towers for the afternoon. 

Even though we were fairly early there were still a few cars already there.  At 9:30am the sun was already intense.  I went with long sleeves the entire day, no baring my arms today.  After checking out the trailhead story, we hit the trail.

There were lots of cacti ready to bloom but that wasn't going to be happening today so I took a photo of this flower.  This part of Utah is not wild with flowers so I took what I could get.  The trial was winding, narrow and the trail head warned of all of the poison ivy which looked different then any kind of poison ivy I saw before so I was on guard.

Not far into the hike, I was realizing why this canyon is called Morning Glory.  The meandering creek with all its refections was a glorious sight.  It looked like a whole different place then the other day on the hike out.  I like seeing the canyon walls in the water.

Others too were discovering why it was called Morning Glory!  

This was my landing place when I rappelled on Thursday.  Look down and you can see the bridge's reflection in the pool.

Look up and there is Morning Glory Bridge in all her glory!  

It looks small but it is 120 feet up (although some say 75 feet).  It's span is 243 feet.

This was a cool place, not just scenery-wise but temperature-wise too. We had lunch here and of course I had to explore around and touch and feel everything, except the poison ivy.  Thank you Adventure Designer for the photo.

My GPS went a little wonky in this canyon as you can tell from my track. I like how it shows we were down in a canyon wandering around.  I'm glad we completed this one when we did, lots of other folks were just heading in to make their own discoveries.

Just 30 minutes down the road was our afternoon adventure.   The trailhead parking lot was packed and it was not packed with just hikers but climbers too.  This is not a very long hike but it took us forever.  Every few minutes or so we stopped for more then a few minutes in awe of the scenery.

Not very long into the hike, we were in amongst these magnificent towers.

It was blue sky, red rock, green trees everywhere and when I saw a splash of yellow I had to capture it!

Every now and then something caught my eye.  We stopped and took the time to look around and investigate what that movement was.  If you look at the photo below, at the left, look closely at that cork screw looking little pointy pillar.  From this vantage point, it is hard to tell what is going on there, so..........

.....I zoomed in! WOW!

Checking the sign in box on our way out, we found that these folks are from Alberta.  We spent most of our time watching them go up and down this thing.  I wanted to give it a try on a lower pillar.  This was as far as my courage got me!  See me in the bottom right!

With the clock ticking away, my thermometer reading +38C and a big day ahead tomorrow, we declared this our turn-around point and turned around for a fairly quick return hike. 

I also declared I love Moab!

Corona Arch May 6, 2011 Outside Moab

When I first started my research on the Moab area, I came across an adventure company that offers rappels off the Corona Arch.  I was intrigued by this and inquired about it with full intentions of rappelling if they had an opening  It didn't work out and when I got to the Arch and saw it, I was thankful.  Everything happens for a reason doesn't it!  I am quite happy with my Ephedros Canyon rappelling.

There were two cars at the trailhead at 3:00.  I was surprised at that, I expected more.  Before heading off, I piled on more sunscreen to prevent any further burning.  My legs were already stinging from the hot sun but I wasn't ready to quit yet.  

This was rated an easy 5km hike.  It was on the easy side but there were some sections folks would find challenging.  Crossing the train tracks wouldn't be one of the challenging areas.

But some would find climbing this steep slickrock section a challenge.  There is a chain to hold on to which I was thankful for.  I wonder how steep slickrock has to be before you start sliding on it or loosing your balance,

Thank you for the ladder!  

This was a surprise arch!  All of a sudden there it was!  It looks close but it wasn't.  The two dots underneath it are people.  I had to circumnavigate around a canyon along angled slickrock to get to Corona Arch.  Once I arrived, I admired its beauty, took photos then played on it. There is no way I would have had the nerve to go to the front side, climb up and rappel off.

This was the best I was capable off!

See me?

At the base!

The return hike was quick and now I was tired and hungry, burnt and sore.  I declare this is the end of today for me!

Dead Horse Point State Park May 6, 2011

I had no hesitations with going solo today!  I had a map, my GPS and written directions for the full loop around Dead Horse Point State Park.  I first stopped in at the Visitor Center to purchase my patch and bandana before hitting the trail which was out the back door.  I had intentions to take every overlook trail along the way and the first one was Basin View.

This view was packed full.  I could see the snow covered La Sal Mountains, islands in the sky, the rocky formations plus the potash solar evaporation ponds.  I was thinking if this is the kind of stuff I am in for today, it will be quite the day!

Most folks don't hike the trail, they just drive to the end of the road which is Dead Horse Point and it has a grand view.

I went to the lower viewing point at the Point for this photo.  It was the view I saw in all the travel brochures and I wanted to see it with my own two eyes.  I like how the Colorado River winds its way around.

Further along the trail, I took the side trip out to Meander Overlook.  This allowed me a closer to the edge view with the River further in the distance.  I was also getting in places where I could see how high I really was.

I could see the famous Shaffer Trail below me here.  This was my lunch spot and still to this point I have not come across another person.  I loved having the place to myself.  My new Osprey Stratos 24 was perfect for today's hike.

The Rim Overlook had quite a unique view!

Just before turning off to hike the Rim Overlook, two frantic couples and a dog quickly came towards asking if I knew where I was and where I was going.  I confidently answered with the affirmative.  They said they were lost and didn't know where the trail went.  I asked them what map they were using, they replied none, they didn't have a GPS and no written directions.  I showed them mine, they looked, they argued with each other, then said they were going back the way they came.  The dog refused to move, it sat under a tree.  With a big tug, off they went with the dog, were only gone a few minutes when they came running back and said they would stick with me. I told them I still had two more overlooks to do before heading back.   They said they were not doing any more overlooks and wanted this to be over with.  I sent them off in the right direction never to see them again.   I was glad they were gone and to own the place again.

The last overlook crossed what reminded me of a beach.  

The view once again was similar as before but from further away.  The slickrock top had many pots but because of the lack of rain, only one was filled with water.  I took another longer break here because it was almost over and I didn't want it to end.

The last view before arriving back at the Visitor Center was of the snow covered La Sal Mountains.  They seem to be everywhere!  I was glad I got to do the full loop.  I was curious to see what this GPS track would look like.  I knew I had hiked in a star-like formation.

Because I had started early, it was early afternoon by the time I finished.  I covered just over 14km.  It was a hot day, I felt the burn on my legs and arms but I didn't want to stop because of that.  I packed up, drove back to Moab onto my next adventure.