Canyonlands here we come!
So in the last blog post I said I set the alarm for 6:00a.m. right? Well it was 6:00a.m. in Wisconsin, but unfortunately my phone was not set for auto update of date and time, so when the alarm went off it was really 7:00a.m. Fail! We got ready in a hurry because we had planned on leaving at 7:30 so we had some time. Jen and Tom were understanding and let us eat breakfast, and we got on the road at about 7:50a.m.
Tom W started out the drive which allowed time for myself to write the blog and for Tom to pick out the pictures and edit them. Shortly after arriving in Utah we came upon a natural arch that we stopped at and climbed ot the top of. I absolutely just love this kind of hiking! I think I’m going to love Arches National Park when we go there on Wednesday. So a good first impression was had of Utah, and soon we were at Canyonlands National Park. We stopped at the Vistor Center to confirm our itinerary of hikes that Jen had picked out from her guidebook “The Best Short Hikes in Utah” and the Forest Ranger suggested one additional hike that was great for kids.
Our first hike was to Mesa Arch. This was a short 1/2 mile or so hike to an arch. This was a good hike to start out with! We enjoyed the views and the relatively easy hike. The next stop was for our picnic lunch of PB&J’s. It was crowded, but we were able to share a shaded picnic area with another family. The picnic area was right where we needed to be for our second hike to the Domed Crater. This was a much more challenging hike of almost 2 miles. Scientists are unsure of how the domed crater was formed. They suggest that it was either by a meteror or salt coming up from the earth.
The third hike was called Whale Rock because the huge rock formation looked like that of a whale. This was the hike that the Forest Ranger had recommended and I’m so glad he did. I think it may have been my favorite of the day. It took us all the way to the top of the rock formation and gave us spectacular 360 degree views. As we were coming back from the whale hike, clouds started to roll in and it felt as if the temprature was dropping, which is great for hiking, but not as great for photography. We had one more hike to go.
The last hike was Grand Point Overview hike. This was about another 2 mile hike, but over much flatter surfaces and not quite as strenuous as the hike to the domed crater. The hike was along the canyon rim so it proved to be a little nerveracking if you wondered too close to the edge. The views of the canyons (that I imagine helped to name Canyonlands National Park) were awesome. By the time we were done hiking it was about 5:00 and we were all impressed that we would be eating supper at a more normal dinner hour.
We had already picked out our spot for dinner on the drive through Moab on the way to the park. I was on Trip Advisor as we rolled through town and found a BBQ placed called the Blu Pig. Upon reading some reviews and downloading their menu, we knew this was the place we wanted to go and drove straight there after leaving the park. We were not disappointed. The food was excellent and our server wa super friendly. We decided this was the best meal of the vacation so rar. We got back to the hotel with plenty of time for the Tom’s and kids to swim in the pool and sit in the hot tub, while Jen and I scored our Utah geocache and went to the grocery store for additional picnic lunch items. This was a great day of hiking. Looking forward to Arches National Park tomorrow!
