Moab 2018
The down side of being involved in startup companies is that you often don’t have time to take vacation. This year, I was determined not to let that happen again, and so we packed up our gear and headed out to Moab, Utah for a for week. I’ve been all over the Southwest, but had never been to Moab before, and within a day of arriving I couldn’t believe what I’d been missing out on. If you’ve never been to Moab, let me assure you that it’s worth the trip. The scenery is spectacular, and you may even find yourself thinking that you never want to go back to wherever you came from.
There are three national parks right around Moab, and each one is special in its own way. Arches, of course, is the most interesting. It’s home of the densest population of natural arches in the world, with over 2,000 documented arches, all of which have been over 300 million years in the making. We ended up visiting Arches four times over the course of our trip, because we just couldn’t get enough of it. I think Delicate Arch is the most beautiful formation there, but it’s about a 1.5 mile hike over some steep terrain, so don’t forget to bring water. The best part of the hike is the last few hundred yards, where you get to follow a chiseled stone path that looks like something out of Lord of the Rings:
When you come around that corner you’re treated to a really incredible natural amphitheater, and on the far side lies Delicate Arch. You can walk right up to it if you want, but there’s a bit of a slope and it’s a good drop to the valley below so you might want to make sure you’ve got some good shoes on if you want to try it. We had hiked up in the dark, hoping to catch the sunrise against the arch, but the morning fog wouldn’t let up.
After having had a chance to visit Arches, we decided to head over to Canyonlands and spend a day there. We drove up Long Canyon Road, aka Pucker Pass, and really enjoyed the drive. It’s a moderate off-road trail that runs about 14 miles up and along the sides of a canyon, and provides some really incredible views. The road’s a bit tight in places, but there are only a few rough patches and I can’t imagine most 4×4 vehicles having any real trouble going up it.
After enjoying some off-road driving, we headed on over to Dead Horse State Park. The views from the overlook were spectacular and well worth the stop. It was interesting to see the evaporation ponds for the potash plant – I knew a lot of potash is produced in New Mexico, but didn’t know they mined it in Utah as well.
It’s hard to describe how beautiful the view is from that overlook. Canyons nested within canyons, the snow capped peaks to the East, it is one of the most photographed scenic vistas in the world and is well worth the trip.
After the trip to Dead Horse Point, we decided to get out and do some hiking, but that was short lived – my ridiculously expensive pair of Vasque boots (that I’d only worn one time before) fell completely apart before I made it fifty yards from the car. I was surprised by this, because most of the hiking boots I have are over pretty old, have lots of miles on them, and are still holding up just fine. I think the problem is that this pair of boots had some kind of foam in the soles and it must have degraded after sitting in storage for a couple of years.
And so it was back in to town for a new pair of shoes. I wasn’t looking forward to having to buy a new pair of boots at one of the only gear stores in a tourist town, but was surprised to find that Gearheads had excellent prices (basically no different than what you’d pay on Amazon), great staff, and a really nice selection of outdoor gear – from climbing to skiing. If you do get in a jam out there and need some new equipment, I highly recommend them.
Since we had to drive all the way back into town, we decided to just go back up to Arches and do some hiking there instead. There are a lot of interesting trails you can hike, most of them aren’t that difficult, and the scenery, as it is almost everywhere in Utah is just unbelievable.
