To "rip off the band aid" so to say, I will dive right into the muckier stuff to get it over with. Beginning with politics (load groan). First, let me begin with the over all statement that I truly believe both Karl and I were exactly where we were supposed to be this past year. Meaning that we kept our sanity during the circus of the election and we disappeared into the woods in order to limit our "real world" contact when everyone else was waging political science wars on social media, which I would probably be very active in if I wasn't so content in my current escapism. But our blissful bubble was burst when certain political maneuvers began encroaching into our adventure-land world and threatening what we have been so vividly immersing ourselves in: our National Parks, public lands, scenic/cultural/historic places, overall well being of our environment, and interactions with some of the most awesome humans I have ever met; Park Rangers. For a bit, there was a dark cloud over our heads, a feeling of hopeless depression with the "what the hell is going on?"/"what the hell could I even do about it". Questions swamping our minds that used to be preoccupied with thoughts of "how many miles can I hike today" or "where might we end up sleeping tonight"? Finding our own ways of being "politically active" while on the road has helped us climb out of our stupor. Like the wise words of the Dalai Lama, shared on a bulletin board at Denali National Park:
Ranting on this unpleasant topic will end soon, as I realized that I would rather my photos do the talking for me. So, no matter if you are red or blue, left or right, elephant or donkey... if you have EVER enjoyed, liked, smiled at, shared, loved, glanced at, or even just been curious about any of the photos I have taken or blog posts we have shared on this trip of the awesome country we live in, then understand that these places you are getting to see and experience through us are worth protecting. Protect our parks, protect our public land, protect America's best idea ever! Oh and the Rangers that are the sentinels for many of these locations should not be silenced but praised. End rant.
Want to talk about being cold (also known as visiting Utah in January)? A recurring theme of our road trip is that there are only so many good weather windows that you can squeeze numerous parks into, sooner or later you have to deal with the less ideal conditions and Utah's parks got that short straw. As Karl mentioned in the end of the last post, Utah just got dumped with snow and the temperatures were staying low and the white stuff was there to stay. Thankfully, due to a trip a few years ago to the same region, we knew what these parks were like in the summer heat and took the winter weather as an exciting change of pace (or challenge). This is me trying to act optimistic, keep in mind Karl is the one that likes snow, not me!
The major benefit of visiting these popular places in frigid temperatures is the hope that you will have the pristine views to yourself as most other people are not as determined (or crazy?) as we are to brave the nippy air. With that said we are diving directly into Moab, the jumping off point for everything interesting near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks as well as a bunch of state parks, so anything being "uncrowded" is a relative term. With our forecast knowledge being limited only to knowing it would be necessary to bundle up, our first stop was to the Visitor Center in Arches National Park to talk with Rangers about conditions, suggestions, and thanking them for being bad asses. Once a Ranger determine that you are of a certain caliber of visitor, a wealth of knowledge and hidden gems of insight (like favorite spots, remote finds, and back country permits) are provided. With the advice given, our next few days were spent jumping from Arches to BLM or State hikes around Moab to Canyonlands back to Arches and so on. Depending on small factors like how windy it was, what the lighting looked like, or if the slick rock would be wet, we customized the days excursions.
- Scenic drives though Arches to reacquaint ourselves to the park, with short jaunts on nature trails to see some of the more accessible famous features.
- Multiple entertaining trails to explore outside of the National Park on BLM Lands to check out natural springs, train tracks, and more arches.
(Karl couldn't just look at the arches from below... his antics makes for cool photos though!)
- Back to Arches to repeat the Devil's Garden Trail we enjoyed nearly 7 years ago to revisit some of our favorite sights and recreate a few choice photos.
Our recreation attempt ended shortly after this photo was taken. The freezing temperatures, the biting wind, the white out conditions with the snow fall was NOT the reason we turned around. We actually pushed on until while in the midst of all of that and scrambling on the icy slick rock through a small slot canyon, we hear in the very close gray distance crunching, cracking, crashing BOOMs slightly muffled by the thick snow falling in the air... a rock/ice fall. My heart was probably pounding just as loud as the echoing items falling from the sky, and that was enough of an adrenaline rush for me.
As we hastened back along our footprints in the snow, we confirmed that the famed Landscape Arch was still hanging in there. Looking even more precariously thin with the blanket of snow on top.
-Visit Canyonlands. By the way, this park is divided into three districts: Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze (split by the Green and Colorado Rivers, and their confluence, kinda like how Pittsburgh's rivers converge and separate parts of the city). Beginning with the first and appropriately named, Island in the Sky (which would be central like dahntahn back in PGH) we spent the morning hiking around Grand View Point,
watching storm clouds crawl along the landscape below while trailing wisps of precipitation.
We were going to take a "rest day" and just drive through Island in the Sky and take short walks to overlooks and features. Well, 9 miles later we realized we aren't very good at sitting still on rest days.
-And that night we drove back into Arches to hike to Delicate Arch to watch the sunset from the famed spot.
Yes, it was freezing but you don't need to feel your extremities (as long as you aren't shivering too much) to take a pretty picture.
I was savoring the fact that so few people were up at Delicate Arch that I would not have to photoshop posing individuals out of my pictures.
Karl's entertainment was people watching the few determined but unprepared individualist who were trying to get up to the arch in high heeled boots or converse sneakers and no flashlights other than their cell photo screens. Oh well.
After the sun dipped below the horizon, we had the place almost all to ourselves. It was a whole different world. I say "almost" because we did have to share the trail with some deer.
The next day we took a small detour and drove to visit a place that almost had a mythical status for me, we were off to Castle Valley, Utah to gaze upon Castleton Tower.
Why is this random 400-foot wingate sandstone tower standing on a 1,000-foot moenkopi-chinle cone in Utah so special to me?
We made it to the real Pinnacle!
Sadly, we did not climb the real thing. Honestly, the drive on the insanely muddy roads/hiking to the base of the cone on said road when we didn't want to take Ele any farther,
then hiking up the huge cone on snow and ice get to the base of the Tower was a workout enough.
Add in the fact that is was around 20 degrees, windy as all hell, and the easiest option would have been four pitches of off-width 5.9+... we skipped the actual roping up.
But, that just gives us a reason to come back one day.
- Back to the parks, the next day exploring another region of Canyonlands: The Needles. Following foot trails to panoramic views, crazy formations, and historic relics we had plenty to do.
With it being the off season, other than a single ranger patrolling in his truck we had the park to ourselves. This even included the campsites near Elephant Hill picnic area, we were alone. And our campsite had its own cave!
It was awesome.
That night, we found out why we were by ourselves. By morning our water bottles were solid, our large 7 gallon water tank was now a very large ice cube (and these items were inside the car with us), every inch of Ele's surface was covered in a think sparkling frost, and the windshield wiper fluid was frozen. According to Karl, to have that freeze the temperatures had to be in the negatives. Oops.
From freezing to the Fiery Furnace we go. Despite the name, it wasn't that much warmer but at least it was above 30 degrees and sunny. The Fiery Furnace is a natural labyrinth of narrow sandstone canyons, fins, and passages in Arches and if you venture in alone (without a Ranger led hike) you need a permit and to agree that you will most likely get lost.
When obtaining a permit, you have to watch a video, talk to a ranger, answer questions about your capability to complete a hike like this on your own, and sign your life away. This hike also had more restrictions and warnings than any other I have ever done. From the standard safety expected bullet points one expects to see (like have your own 10 essentials, wear sturdy boots, pack out all waste, etc), to no children under a certain age allowed, to things like do not talk above a slight whisper (because everything will echo) or if you encounter another group or person hiking, take a different route as them so as to allow the experience of having the place to yourself. The most stressed restriction for hiking anywhere around Moab concerns the "crypto", a living crust that is actually called "biological soil crust" and it covers much of the surrounding sand, creating a crust like foundation composed of algae, lichens, and bacteria for desert plants to take hold onto. This crust takes years to grow and develop and one misplaced footstep can disrupt this living ground cover and impact the effected area for years, screwing up the whole ecosystem. It is understandable why they want to protect it. But they surely make you know NOT to walk on any crypto and only place your boot on slick rock or established wash bottoms.
We've seen the crust throughout the area, but when thrown into a natural maze where this stuff is everywhere... it becomes a lot harder to avoid. I have never had to truly think about the placement of my every footstep so much in my life. This area is not an easy trek to begin with (hence why they require the permits) but it was suddenly made so much harder due to my paranoia over over the crypto! Every place I went I feared I might be killing an ecosystem that has been struggling to grow for years. Is that rock safe? Is that sand growing any crust? Can I jump from here to there and miss the crypto? Is that an actual wash bottom or did some other jerk leave a social trail through the crust? If I have to walk along the ridge of this fin, will I fall into the crevice below? Oh the self doubt! Oh the guilt of possibly crushing the crust.
Add in the fact that scrambling and climbing is an essential part of attempting to get anywhere within the Fiery Furnace and another one of the warnings was before climbing up somewhere, make sure you will be able to climb back down. As anyone who has tried climbing or scrambling knows, down climbing is a lot harder than going up.
Karl was, of course, in his mountain goat/monkey/Spiderman mode glory. To him it was a challenging playground that he could problem solve, route find, climb, and scramble around in.
Then there was me. Guilt stricken over the potential of stepping on a living carpet and awkward at the best of time. Oh, who am I kidding, anyone that has seen me active knows that the word "graceful" is never used to describe me unless it is dripping with sarcasm. Just say, this hike brought back deeply buried doubts of me trusting my muscles to do what I actually intended them to do. (Thanks for the deep seated lack of confidence of any muscle you damn missing eyelid muscles!)
Oh well, I survived and often just found solid rock to plant my butt on while Karl scaled to a higher vantage point (once again, it makes for good photos).
Two more National Parks down with extras thrown in, and we were only getting started with Utah. The rest of the state would be explored with a fresh perspective. Literally, as we had a friend flying out from Pittsburgh to join us... enter Katie Z! Plus Karl and I only have each other and were looking forward to annoying someone else for a while. But, there is nothing more refreshing and contagious than the excitement of experiencing the parks from a new outlook. Seriously, the grin on her face and the awe in her eyes with each new view was priceless.
That also means that you get to read a post from Katie Z's take on her adventures with Starl Krenbic in the next blog. Stay tuned!
<3 S
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