Road Trip Trip Report - Utah and Colorado

[firedancer]

It's become a bit of an annual tradition for me to take a vacation around the time of my September birthday and head out West to a National Park. This year I was able to get 10 days away and decided to head towards the Moab area. (I was driving from the Chicago area)

My last night on the road was spent in Silt, CO which left me a whole day to spend driving to Moab. I took Scenic Rt 128 which my uncle recommended as opposed to I-70 all the way to Moab. The views were astounding.

I drove straight to Arches National Park to claim my campsite and start hiking!
Double Arch was one of my favorites, although it was a very short hike from the parking lot

Delicate Arch, while beautiful, was crawling with people as sunset neared, so I opted not to join the crowds

The following day I had pre-purchased a 10am ticket for the ranger led tour of the Fiery Furnace. This didn't leave much hiking time in the morning, but I did venture into Devil's Garden for a short hike

I then joined Ranger Jon and 20+ other tourists for a 4 hour tour of the Fiery Furnace - it is a maze of fins and other cool formations, very easy to get lost so they are strict about allowing people to go in un-guided
This is what it looks like from the outside:

And within the Furnace:

After this, I toured the viewpoints and scenic lookouts of the park and headed back to Moab to find a cheap room and a much needed shower.

 

[firedancer]

Tuesday was the departure day for a 4 day raft trip I had booked with OARS rafting.
OARS Whitewater Rafting, Adventure Travel, White Water Rafting Vacations (highly recommend them for anyone!!!)

We would spend 4 days floating and rafting the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park. I have done quite a bit of kayak camping, but having guides/chefs was a fine luxury to have! Our daily meals were exquisite; and you get to pack a lot more on a raft than in a kayak!

Day 1 and Day 2 were mostly easy river floating - we had 3 boats tied together with a motor in the middle - our speed was about 8mph. There was plenty of time for snack breaks and side hikes to Native American sites

Evenings were spend camped on sandy beaches

A full moon hindered too much star viewing, but the light of the full moon on the canyon walls was beautiful

Near the end of Day 2, we encountered some small rapids, but Day 3 would be our real "whitewater" day. (being mid-September, the water was quite low so the rapids were fun, but not terrifying!)

Day 4 found us floating again, out of the canyon and into Lake Powell. It was a bittersweet day as we were all ready for showers, but nobody wanted this trip to end

A van waited for us at Hite Marina on Lake Powell - we were driven a short distance to 2 Cessna 207's waiting to take us back to Moab. Although nervous about these small planes, flying over the very river we'd just spent 4 days floating was quite a sight!

Confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers

From the Canyonlands airport, another van transported us back to our vehicles in Moab.

 

[Judy Ann]

Happy Birthday!!! It appears that you had an amazing trip and I really enjoyed the pics. Breathtaking night view up from the canyon and the river!

 

[firedancer]

My vacation wasn't over yet. From here, I would drive south to spend a night in Monticello, UT on my way to the SW corner of Colorado. I stopped at Newspaper Rock along the way to see the hundreds of petroglyphs

The following day would take me through Hovenweep National Monument and on to Mesa Verde National Park

While I did not partake in any guided tours here, we did take a few hours to hike the petroglyph loop that goes up and over Spruce Tree House. It was a nice hike with several interesting obstacles

The following morning, I headed north to the Telluride area. It was the last day of the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival and Willie Nelson was headlining, so I couldn't miss it. It was a great way to end the vacation! After that, it was 24 hours of driving back to Illinois.

Thanks for reading!

 

[IndianaHiker]

Looks like a great trip and the photos were excellent. Thanks for sharing

 

[Judy Ann]

What a trip! I've never seen pictures of newspaper rock, pretty impressive. How did you happen to plan this trip? Do you do many Sierra Club or National Geographic trips?
You did a lot in 10 days including driving!

 

[firedancer]

Thanks, Judy Ann! I plan most of my trips myself - I believe I was meant to be a travel agent I have a goal to someday visit all of our National Parks, so I just work down the list and try to add a few new ones every year. Normally I can wrangle one or more friends into joining me but this year I ended up solo, which was OK too! My friends have "complained" in the past that I never rest on vacation, which is true - I really pack a lot in to whatever time I have.

Our whitewater guide tipped me off to Newspaper Rock - it was a short detour off the main road, but I'm glad I went to check it out.

 

[MountainMan22]

That looks like one heck of a vacation! I love those pictures, especially the one looking up at night. It's crazy to think that those canyons were once filled with water. I wish we could've seen what the world looked like back then. I've never actually been to any of those kinds of canyons. I've only seen them from above in a plane.

 

[Grandpa]

Awesome pics and a great trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ponderosa]

You hit so many of my favorite places- sounds like a perfect trip. Now I'm headed over to facebook to check out some more of your great pics...still super jealous that you've seen Willie twice this year. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll venture somewhere a little closer to me next year (although Telluride would have been worth the drive).

 

[Geezer]

firedancer, you really know how to make the most of your vacation time. Thank you for sharing with us. The photos were absolutely breathtaking. I can't wait to see what you are doing next year.

 

[Chief]

I will be leaving next week for a road trip in Utah and Arizona, so the Pics are really getting me wired for this one, I'm also trying to get as much infor as I can get before venturing into the unknown from this ole florida boy. thanks all

 

[candycane]

Oh my goodness what gorgeous pictures! I would love to visit there someday....absolutely breathtaking!! I would love to know what kind of camera you use and how you managed to take such a gorgeous picture of the stars? That was delightful! Thank you for sharing!!

 

[Pathfinder1]

I usually don't trek very far,
when all around me black bears are.



Hi...

Photos were great. I've spent much time over many seasons in and around the Colorado, Moab, Castle Valley and Telluride. Thanks for the memories...!!

I have the same picture of Newspaper Rock. Also prowled through Arches and the Firery Furnace, plus many places we thought we'd never be able to navagate...on foot or by vehicle.




Waddya mean you DROPPED the hand grenade??

 

[firedancer]

Oh my goodness what gorgeous pictures! I would love to visit there someday....absolutely breathtaking!! I would love to know what kind of camera you use and how you managed to take such a gorgeous picture of the stars? That was delightful! Thank you for sharing!!

Thank you for the kind words! I use a Nikon D3000, which is their entry-level SLR. The star photo was taken using the Shutter Priority setting with a 30 second exposure (on a tripod) I really wanted to get some star trails but the moon was just too bright. Next year I'll plan my trip around the new moon!

(A few of the on-water photos were taken with a waterproof Fujifilm camera)

 

[OwenM]

Nice TR! Arches and Canyonlands are on my list, if I ever get free of Zion's spell.

 

[Susie]

Just curious about how the weather was in the fall. Thinking about checking this area out next spring, as I have long been intrigued by it. Nice photos!

 

[firedancer]

I hate to spill the secret, but in my opinion, September is the best time to visit the desert. Warm to hot days and cool nights. Kids back in school, so fewer crowds (although the Europeans were out in droves)

Here is a link to all the pictures from that trip - I had only one day with rain and that was on the river, so we were wet anyways!
SEP2011 Utah Road Trip - leighwilson's Photos

SEP2011 - Utah River Trip - leighwilson's Photos

 

[Judy Ann]

Firedancer, you should enter the competition here on OBC. As always I enjoy reading your TRs and your photography skills are an inspiration to take a class or two!

 

[Lamebeaver]

Nice job getting the exposure just perfect on that big dipper shot! Those can be a bit tricky, especially with the light just right on the canyon wall.