Moab and Southern Utah

It’s been much longer than I had intended, but we’ve been busy making up for our pandemic-induced slow pace in Arizona. Since we moved on, we’ve been hiking nearly every day. Boy, is it it exhausting in the best possible way!

Even though most national parks were still closed at this time (they’re opening back up now), we headed to Moab, UT, home to the famous Arches National Park.

---

Grandstaff Trail

Utah is known for its many stone arches, and we were ready to hike to our first. Grandstaff Trail is 4.3 miles long and is located just outside the [closed] Arches National Park.

We had read ahead of time that there is lots of poison ivy along this trail. Unfortunately our childhood scout leaders would be very ashamed of us, because neither of us could quite remember what poison ivy looks like. And as it turns out, there are a lot of plants with three leaves. We spent most of the hike trying to avoid touching or letting the dogs brush up against virtually every single plant.

The trail crosses over a shallow stream a few times before reaching a big sandstone arch at the very end.

Interactive photo – click and drag to look around:

---

Corona Arch & Bowtie Arch

I was very excited for this next hike. I had read that it’s a great dog-friendly alternative to Arches National Park. It did not disappoint!

Right from the parking lot at the trailhead we came across an impressive railroad chiseled into tall rock cliffs.

This trail is only 2.3-mi and is far more interesting than our previous arch hike. The two arches, Bowtie Arch & Corona Arch, very quickly came into view in the distance as we started hiking.

We all had to climb a very steep ~20ft rock with footholds and a wobbly wire “railing”. Our dogs don’t have thumbs, so the railing wasn’t very useful for them. When they say this hike is dog-friendly, they probably ought to add a disclaimer that you’d better be prepared to hoist your dog’s big butt all the way up this rock. I don’t have any pictures of it because it was very much a all-hands-on-deck situation. (Don’t worry Mom, we bring hand sanitizer everywhere we go.) It was definitely our most challenging feat so far, but I’d absolutely do it again for the magnificent views.

Interactive photo – click and drag to look around:

On the backside of the arch, we met three brothers (one of which was precariously perched and paralyzed by fear near the top of the tall cliff which connects to one side of Corona Arch); they were apparently trying to decide whether it was safe and/or worth it to climb on top of the arch. The frozen brother eventually made it back down and declared “10/10 would NOT recommend”. They were on a road trip in memoriam of their dad. We exchanged socially-distant, family photos via text message.

We tried to do this hike fairly early to avoid the heat and the crowds, but it was still pretty blazing hot, so the dogs were super pooped towards the end. Bruno found a nice basset-sized crevice to rest in.

---

Dead Horse State Park

The Dead Horse Rim Loop Trail was 6 miles long but probably our easiest hike to date. It was very flat and mostly paved. The east side of the rim has mountain views and bright blue potash solar evaporation ponds.

The west side has goosenecking and rock formations caused by erosion.

---

Little Wild Horse & Bell Canyons

We ventured onward northwest of Moab to Hanksville, UT. Little Wild Horse & Bell Canyon Trail is an 8-mi loop with slot canyons that are a little more challenging and less tall & shady than the slot canyons we hiked in Arizona.

We let the dogs off-leash again to roam free along the beautiful, wavy rocks.

There were more holes in the walls of the slots in this area. Not a good hike for anyone with trypophobia.

The feet of the slots extended far enough out on both sides that there were many obstacles along the path. The dogs required more help than usual and we both had to take turns with the basset dead-lifts.

---

Goblin Valley State Park

Time for more hoodoos! Whereas in our ‘Toadstool Hoodoos’ hike where the hoodoos are called ‘toadstools’ due to their mushroom-like shape, the hoodoos in this area are referred to as ‘goblins’.

The first hike we did here was a short 2.5-mi hike to the Goblin’s Lair. We hiked through hundreds of goblins before climbing some very steep rock to reach an opening in the cliff to the ‘Goblin’s Lair’.

After visiting the Goblin’s Lair, we took a short lunch break back at the truck before wandering out into the Valley of the Goblins.

There’s no set trail in the Valley of the Goblins. You just meander amongst the millions of goblins to your heart’s content. It feels a little bit magical, like a giant playground for adults because you can climb up onto, around, and through different goblins.

I like to take pictures of Sean hiking for perspective. But every time he hears me stop behind him he stops and looks at me, and I cajole him to keep going. So here was his attempt at going back to acting natural (*insert eye roll*):

Interactive photo – click and drag to look around:

The alternating layers of hard sandstone and soft siltstone in Goblin Valley created the goblins here over millions of years. The goblins are much softer than the other hoodoos we’ve previously seen and look more like packed mud. Over time older goblins will fall, making way for new goblins to form.

And finally before leaving the park, we had a look at the Three Sisters which are a sort of emblem of Goblin Valley State Park.

---

Capitol Reef National Park

Just as we left Goblin Valley State Park and started heading further west, all of the national parks started opening back up. We hadn’t planned on hitting Capitol Reef National Park because we thought it would be closed and it’s not dog friendly, but it was on our way so we decided to at least take advantage of the scenic drive which goes right through the park.

This park is filled with gorgeous, alternating layers of rust and cream colored rock.

---

Blind Lake

Y’all, Arizona & Southern Utah are great but we’ve started to really miss trees… and cool weather! So we drove to much higher elevation for a hike around Blind Lake.

It was so much cooler here that there was actually some snow on the ground! The dogs enjoyed romping on it and some chomping on it too.

The lake was in the center of a forest of aspen trees. Lots of people had left their marks in the trees which scar into black lettering.

We carved our initials too so that in future years when people encounter it they can muse “2020…oh yikes…what a year!”

---

After Blind Lake, we went to boondock in the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument area for several days.

Escalante Petrified Forest

We had missed out on Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona due to coronavirus, so I was excited to make up for it by visiting Escalante Petrified Forest.

We took the Petrified Forest Nature Trail to the Sleeping Rainbows which was definitely the best part of the park. All along the Sleeping Rainbows trail are big chunks of petrified wood.

Approximately 135-155 million years ago trees were uprooted and buried in mud during flooding. Groundwater permeated the buried trees, and because they were in an oxygen-free environment, the trees did not decay. Instead silica solution replaced the organic material in the tree, producing an array of vibrant colors.

---

Dry Fork Narrows and Peekaboo & Spooky Slot Canyons

This was our first dog-free hike since the Caves of Sonora in Texas during our very first week of this trip! While dogs aren’t explicitly banned from this hike, these slots are even more challenging than the last and would be difficult for any dog let alone a short-legged basset hound.

The first section of slots are called Peekaboo Slot Canyon.

These slots were so much tighter than any of the previous ones and there was a lot of climbing involved.

When you reach the Spooky Slot Canyon, the walls get a lot higher and the slots even narrower. Not for the claustrophobic! This is why it gets its name: spoOoOoky slots.

---

Lower Calf Creek Falls Trail

The last hike we did in the Grand Staircase – Escalante area was the popular, dog-friendly 6.7-mi Lower Calf Creek Falls Trail. We started very early on a weekday in and effort to beat the heat and the crowds.

We even let the dogs cool off and play in the water. They had a blast.

---

We’ve been boondocking a lot lately which means very little TV/news and wifi service is spotty at best. But between hikes we’ve been trying to soak in as much about the current movement as possible, especially from the voices of our friends of color. We are outraged and saddened by the police brutality and the state of politics in our government.

We are donating to Campaign Zero. It appeals to us as nerdy engineers because this organization uses data analysis to tackle police reform. “Funds donated to Campaign Zero support the analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide.“

We are also ensuring we will be able to mail in our votes from out-of-state this year.

And when we need a mental health break from all of the heartache on social media and the news, we’ve been roasting some more s’mores and building rainbow fires.

One last thing: I’ve been meaning to thank everyone who’s commented, liked, texted, or otherwise told me that they’re enjoying this blog! It’s out of my comfort zone and I probably wouldn’t be writing it if it weren’t for all of the encouragement I’ve received. I read each and every comment and am extremely grateful for all of your kind words!