Bill
.
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2012
- Messages
- 991
Every year we make at least one winter trip to Moab during the off season. Hotels are cheap and the trails are typically empty aside from the few people willing to deal with a bit of cold weather. For our 2012 trip we got an early start Saturday morning and drove out to Island in the Sky . We had epic skies and dark clouds for our entire drive down but of course as soon as we got to the False Kiva trail head the sky became clear and blue. The kids are amazing hikers especially our 5yo, I have a feeling that kid will be pounding out some serious miles later this year.
False Kiva
Baby Parkers first desert hike
We spent a while soaking in the views at False Kiva before heading up the trail and back to the car. We made a short hike to Mesa Arch and then hung out at the Green River overlook for an uneventful sunset. As soon as the sun dropped below the horizon it became windy and very cold so we piled in the car, drove to Moab, and checked into our hotel for the night.
Mesa Arch
Sunday morning I was up early and driving back to Island in the Sky to try and catch a sunrise with markj , Tyler , and Britnee . The light was totally flat and there really wasn't a sunrise at all. We made it back to the hotel, rounded up the rest of our group and headed into Arches to hike around in the Devils Garden. We hiked out to Navajo Arch together as a group then a few of us completed the full primitive loop and we all met up back at the cars.
Next up was a short walk to Sand Dune Arch before the wind and rain picked back up and we headed back to the hotel. whitwilli , Tyler, and I headed back into the park for sunset but were skunked yet again.
I lugged my 5lb crystal ball around the entire weekend.
60 second sunset.
Monday morning once again I was up early for sunrise and captured the first decent light of the trip. I waited in the cold for the first light to hit the north window, took a few shots, then drove to the courthouse towers to catch some reflections in the puddles that formed overnight.
We checked out of the hotel then made one last hike up to Corona where we only saw 1 other person on the trail. Gotta love Moab in the winter, it may be a bit cold but the trails and parks are so empty it's always worth it.
False Kiva
Baby Parkers first desert hike
We spent a while soaking in the views at False Kiva before heading up the trail and back to the car. We made a short hike to Mesa Arch and then hung out at the Green River overlook for an uneventful sunset. As soon as the sun dropped below the horizon it became windy and very cold so we piled in the car, drove to Moab, and checked into our hotel for the night.
Mesa Arch
Sunday morning I was up early and driving back to Island in the Sky to try and catch a sunrise with markj , Tyler , and Britnee . The light was totally flat and there really wasn't a sunrise at all. We made it back to the hotel, rounded up the rest of our group and headed into Arches to hike around in the Devils Garden. We hiked out to Navajo Arch together as a group then a few of us completed the full primitive loop and we all met up back at the cars.
Next up was a short walk to Sand Dune Arch before the wind and rain picked back up and we headed back to the hotel. whitwilli , Tyler, and I headed back into the park for sunset but were skunked yet again.
I lugged my 5lb crystal ball around the entire weekend.
60 second sunset.
Monday morning once again I was up early for sunrise and captured the first decent light of the trip. I waited in the cold for the first light to hit the north window, took a few shots, then drove to the courthouse towers to catch some reflections in the puddles that formed overnight.
We checked out of the hotel then made one last hike up to Corona where we only saw 1 other person on the trail. Gotta love Moab in the winter, it may be a bit cold but the trails and parks are so empty it's always worth it.
