Week's trip to Moab Utah

[TeryT]

Just came back from a week up in Moab, Utah area for my birthday. Pulled the trailer up, and camped along the Colorado River. Thought I'd share some pix.

The V8 4Runner gets credit for pulling a 27' ultralight travel trailer very well indeed - over mountains, steep valleys, etc. Never misses a beat.

 

[alaskaman]

Thanks....any more pics?

 

[TeryT]

Near arriving in Moab, Utah, we had to go over the La Sal pass at about 7,000'. Suddenly we were hit with a hail storm that made significant accumulations in a matter of minutes. It dumped so much the wipers got stuck! I know for many of you this is nothing, but for those of us who live in the desert - and late April!

 

[TeryT]

Moab is pretty much the outdoor capital of Utah. It is between two awesome national parks - Arches & Canyonlands. People flock there for all sorts of outdoor activity including, off-roading, biking, hiking, rafting, photography - you name it!

Here's a shot of the La Sal's (12,700') from Arches Nat. Park.

(if you look closely you can see at least one arch in the distance)

 

[alaskaman]

Thanks....similarly in the Navajo about this time a couple years ago between Gallup and Ganado, the road goes to 8200 ft above sea level...same thing as you describe out of the blue.... t shirt weather changed very quickly....always will remember that..

 

[TeryT]

This is Landscape arch - the thinest of them all. It's about a football field wide. No one knows how much longer it will last! This area, inside & outside the national parks, has dozens of arches. Some easy to get to, some not. Interesting geological formations, to say the least.

 

[TeryT]

This is Delicate arch, and is pretty much the unofficial symbol of Utah - you see it on their license plates. I think someone got drunk & mixed up the names of these two arches, as I think Landscape arch is the delicate one!

This arch was about an hour hike in, with moderate elevation gain.

 

[alaskaman]

amazing pics...thanks!

 

[TeryT]

What I really found facinating about this arch, is it sits on the edge of a huge bowl. The arch is at about the one o'clock position in this picture. Erosion just kept carving out this bowl, leaving a wall on top, and one section of the wall turned into this arch.

 

[TeryT]

Here's another angle of the arch & bowl.

 

[TeryT]

There are so many things to do around this area. I saw more 4x4's than I ever had! Must have been a ratio of 1:2, and most all of them were modified a bunch!

I think this place is Rubicon heaven & I'd never seen so many as when we came upon this rental place.

This was like maybe a third of them on this one rental lot!

 

[TeryT]

How 'bout this one Thai?

But this is what you want to really do it right!

One of these Unimog's had the licence plate "Hum This" Too funny!

 

[TeryT]

One day we did a day trip into Canyonlands. This series of about a half dozen switchbacks drops nearly a thousand feet.

Notice the two jeeps.

 

[TeryT]

Another shot.

This is going down to the White Rim trail which goes about 100 miles around this canyon - the convergence of the Colorado & Green Rivers.

 

[TeryT]

Ain't this purdy!? My wife said it was just about the most beautiful scene she had experienced - camera truly doesn't do it justice!

 

[TeryT]

One of several balancing rocks - a real marvel.

The mighty 4Runner that made so much of this trip possible!

 

[TeryT]

A couple last shots, at least for now. This is actually the top of an arch that was down in the canyon. You could easily walk across it, although we refrained. Reminded me of something from an Indiana Jones movie.

Another view of this same arch:

That's about it for now. Let me know if you want any more shots of anything, or any info. We were so awe struck that we're already planning to do the entire Canyonlands White Rim road next year, with a group, taking about 3 nights.

BTW: The 4Runner was great on all roads & trails, although admitedly we didn't get into much more than class 3 or 4 ones - never hesitated or even scraped bottom once.

 

[Koz]

GREAT pics! I was hoping to see your 4Runner the Lion's Back.

Koz

 

[TeryT]

GREAT pics! I was hoping to see your 4Runner the Lion's Back.

Koz

Thanks! Is that a trail around Moab?

 

[Koz]

You could call it that!