Moab, UT: Take Two

  March 1, 2013

          Before we left Moab, we were able to visit two of its magnificent national parks.  The weather definitely wasn’t ideal for sightseeing, but we are no ordinary tourists.  We found that a family run allows us to see so much more than by walking.  We are also able to warm up quickly by running and stay warm!  In Moab, we never had the need to carry water with us.  We would just grab handfuls of snow to sustain us.  Kylah is especially fond of this approach and she usually carried snow the entire run. 

Arches National Park was absolutely my favorite.  We drove into the park on a very cold Tuesday, the day after the Presidents’ Day holiday, and the park was very quiet.  There were very few tourists and as we progressed further into the park on foot, there were less and less people.  The trails were covered in snow and ice and a few people tried to encourage us to turn around.  They didn’t think it was appropriate to be on the trails in “sneakers.”  I smiled and told them that we would be fine which only resulted in dirty looks.  I knew it had to be frustrating to see two little kids move quickly across a trail that they were struggling to stay upright on.  I only wish we had the energy to complete the entire primitive trail loop since I am sure the experience would only get better the further into the park we progressed.  I am sure we will go back as we have aspirations of exploring the park’s Fiery Furnace.

 

The Three Gossips

A Look At the Petrified Sand Dunes

Fiery Furnace

Our Family Run

A Look at Landscape Arch

These birds wanted Malachi's lunch!

They look alike here!

As we ran up this, we heard woman exclaim "They are running!"

Windows Arch

 

Our adventures, in the Island in the Skies District of Canyonlands, weren’t quite as eventful.  We left our campsite and headed up not realizing how far away we were heading.  Our gas gauge was near “E” and so we worried much about our return trip.  The kids and I spent the cold part of the morning in the truck writing a paper about our experience in Arches while Justin ran down to the White Rim Trail.  We sent him with a camera so we could share in the views!

 

 

  Then, we headed to the Grand View Overlook and then to the Apache Butte Trail which held some hidden granaries from the Ancient Puebloans.  We then coasted back down to Moab with very little fuel remaining and had a nice HOT shower at the Poison Spider Bike Shop.  We even purchased a bumper sticker there so that we could remember how lovely it was to feel clean again.

 

I was practicing a new trick I learned with my camera.  It gives a great view of our camper at night.

Kylah being silly!