2016 Travels, Canyoneering in Arches National Park and a visit to Corona Arch.

Moab's been bustling since we've been here. Now what ever event was happening is over and sites have opened in King's Bottom, our preferred Moab BLM campground. It's on the other side of the Colorado from William's Bottom. (There's got to be a story behind these names.) King's Bottom is a primitive campground with no hookups, no trash cans, (pack-it-in pack-it-out) and a vault toilet. The cost is $15 per night, $7.50 with the Senior Pass. It's a little more up scale from William's Bottom. There are about 9 sites. King's Bottom has NPR reception and phone but only 2-bars cell data. Williams Bottom didn't have anything at all. Something to think about when you're camping in a canyon.

Morning reflections on the Colorado from our riverside campsite at King's Bottom.

Our camp at King's Bottom has riverside real estate. The river flows as silent as its reflections.

Campsite number 2 at King's Bottom.

We're joined by our friend, Cissie. She's here to go canyoneering with us, Kim and Lisa. Ever since she's seen our photos she's wanted to join us. She did some rappelling a while back and would love the opportunity to do some canyoneering in this gorgeous country. So now's the time. We've hiked with her in the winter around the Lake Roosevelt area in Arizona so we know she's going to love this adventure.

Our gang on todays canyoneering outing: Lisa, Brandy, Stan, Jim and Cissie.

Our first canyoneering outing to U-Turn in Arches National Park is a prelude for a later trip to Undercover Canyon. There are 6 of us and we meet in the parking lot at the Visitor's Center where Lisa gets our canyoneering permit then we carpool into the Park because parking spaces are limited. We park at the first parking area which is a trail head for a scenic walk called "Park Avenue". From there it's about a quarter mile to a 400+ ft., diagonal, rubble-filled crack in the cliffs which we scramble up single file to the top of the rocks.

Part way up the crack I stop to take a picture of our gang. You can see the traffic on the park road below.

A view of Arches National Park from the top of the rocks

From the top of the rocks we get great views of the park.

Lisa, me, Jim, Stan, Brandy, Cissie.

Are we having a good day? So far it's thumbs up.

Looking down at the park road.

We work our way around weathered sandstone domes to get to U-Turn.

Cissie, Lisa, Stan, Brandy and Jim.

We come to a grand view into U-Turn.

Jim, Cissie and Lisa looking into U-Turn and Park Avenue. The "Three Gossips" are on the left.  

Jim and Jackie

Brandy, Cissie, Stan, Lisa, Jim and Jackie

One last photo before starting the rappels into the canyon. There are three short rappels of about 20 to 30 ft. The last rappel is about 80 ft.

Brandy, Stan and Cissie.  

Stadium seating in a rock amphitheater. We watch while Lisa rigs the 1st rappel. Lisa is our leader and expert with lots of training and canyoneering experience. It's her passion and we're the lucky ones to be with her.

Jim always goes first and Stan will follow.

We watch from our stadium seats while Jim is first on rappel. It's safer for us to stay in the stadium seats until it's our turn.

Cissie on rappel and Lisa.

Where do I go from here?

Jim, Cissie, Lisa and Jackie at the top of the 2nd rappel.

The 3rd rappel isn't shear but sloped and high enough that a rope is needed.

Cissie's coming down the 3rd rappel.

Jim and Cissie at the bottom of the 3rd rappel.

The ledge of the last 80 ft. rappel is sloped and rounded so we have to be on rappel before even approaching the edge.

Cissie at the top of the last rappel.

Almost half way down.

The last rappel has a short free-hang at the bottom.

A free hang to the bottom.

The idea is rotate upright and get your feet under you at the proper height above the ground and land on your feet to avoid a butt plant.

Looking good Cissie!

Cissie does a great job on her first long rappel and lands on her feet.

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Everyone had a great day and enjoyed the rocks and the company. We have a nice hike through the canyons and back to the parking log. Thanks to Lisa for taking us on another adventure.

Cissie at the top of the Stair Master trail.

We have a few days before we can go canyoneering in Undercover so we take some hikes and show Cissie around the area. From our camp at King's Bottom it's less then a quarter mile walk to the Stair Master Trail. On this Stair Master you actually get somewhere. The trail climbs steeply at times and offers great views of the Colorado River, Moab, and the La Sal Mountains. Parallel to the hiking trail is a bedrock version for dirt bikes and ORV's. We've seen plenty of these guys get hung up on the steep drop off.

A view of Colorado River from the Stair Master.

In this view of the Colorado from the Stair Master our camp is on the left side of the bend in the river. The ORV Stair Master route in in the lower right corner.

Alcoves along the Corona Arch Trail.

Our next hike is to take Cissie to Corona Arch. It's just a short, easy 1+ mile hike but the arch is certainly something to see. The tail head is along Potash Road.

Pinon and juniper along the Corona Arch Trail.

Nothing's prettier than green pinon and juniper trees against red sandstone walls.

Corona Arch.

Corona Arch flares away from the cliff like a plasma arc on the sun.

The strength of stone.

Cissie at the base of the arch.

The arch straight over head. Complimentary colors.

Utah Juniper. The large trunk makes this beautiful, stunted tree older then we can guess.

Jim and I with Bowtie Arch in the background.

The railroad line to the potash mine runs in a canyon below Corona Arch. We get the chance to actually see one of the few trains that run on it.

A train from the potash mine.

Our next post will be the last of our 2016 Travels. We'll go canyoneering in Undercover on the north side of Arches National Park.

Until Then,
Jackie

2016 Travels, Hiking to petroglyphs near Moab, UT

Every year like the birds going south we find ourselves in Moab for the beautiful October to go biking, hiking and canyoneering with friends. The place has gone crazy. RV parks are full and we find ourselves camped at William's Bottom, a primitive BLM campground on the Potash Road along the Colorado River south of town. The only amenities are a dumpster and an open-air pit toilet. The campground backs up to a beautiful red sandstone wall. The cost is $15 per night, $7.50 with Senior Pass.

Our camp at William's Bottom.

The campground is right along the road with lots of tourist and mine truck traffic which can get pretty noisy but it does quiet down at night.

William's Bottom CG is sandwiched between red sandstone walls and Potash Road.

There are nice views of Behind the Rocks on the other side of the river from the campground.

A river side view of Behind the Rocks.

From the campground there's an easy 19-mile ride along the Colorado River to the Potash mine.

Jim enjoys a nice 19-mile bike ride from the campground to the Potash mine.

Can't beat the scenery and lack of traffic on thia beautiful afternoon.

The Colorado River is pretty lazy along this stretch.

On our 2nd day we did a 40-mile ride on the Moab bike path to the top of Sky Island in Canyonlands. We didn't bother to take any photos because we've ridden this so many times. If you'd like to see photos look back to our Moab posts from the last two years. These bike paths are some of our favorites. The scenery is outstanding.

Kim, Lisa and Jim. We're ready for a hike into the canyons.

We met up with our friends, Kim and Lisa, for a hike to look for pictographs in the canyons around Moab. There will be plenty to see.

Pictographs of people and animals with damage done to the panel by recent visitors. 

Most of the pictographs are Freemont. Early homesteaders and even more recent people have left their marks as well as damaging some of the rock art. For this reason we never tell anyone the locations though some may be able to guess.

Intrepid hikers, Jackie, Lisa and Jim.

Jackie, Lisa and Kim.

The Utah canyons never cease to astound with their serenity, solitude and contrasts.

Just another canyon in Utah.

We find an interesting and very sensual cave.

Lisa leads us further down the canyon.

We find a feathered serpent, clan sign, deer, and a more recently scratched in figure.

Nice sandstone pavement makes for good hiking on the canyon floor.

A cattle trail leads up canyon.

Pictographs of shaman, animals and circles.

A shaman and circles.

Linked circles.

Here are some odd and very old pictographs we can't figure out. I thought the linked circles looked like chains of frog eggs.

A nice panel of people, Big Horn and Elk.

Kim and Jim in the canyon.

Figures join hands in a dance or ceremony.

One of my favorite panels were of figures holding hands in a dance or ceremony. There are also clan signs.

Figures with head dresses join hands in a dance.

A panel high on a cliff shows animals and people.

A panel high on a cliff wall depicts animals and people with hands joined. It looks like a migration. The petroglyph at the top is called a rack. It may depict rain.

Shaman and animals.

Part way down the canyon the bedrock brings the water to the surface and we stop for lunch on the rocks by pleasant pools and ornamental waterfalls.

Kim, Jackie and Lisa.

Ornamental waterfalls sing a story of water in the desert.

A few more miles and we're back to the car. Our hike and a pleasant day in good company comes to an end.

Moab Man says goodbye for now.

Join us in our next post for some canyoneering in Arches.
Until then,
Jackie

2016 Travels, Bicycling the River Front Trail, Grand Juntion, CO.

Grand Junction, CO is a favorite stop on our travels because it's often on our way to where ever we're going. We'll stay at the Saddlehorn Campground in the Colorado National Monument.

The west entry to the Colorado National Monument.

The high mesa of the Colorado National Monument boarders Grand Junction on the southwest with the Colorado River flowing at its base. The road to the top and along the rim of the mesa is breathtaking.

Approaching the tunnel on the west entry road to monument.

The west entry road to the top goes through a tunnel. The tunnel is short but bicyclists have to have lights to ride this road. The east entry has two shorter tunnels and lights are also required. Each has a rather steep grade in places on these 1,500 ft. climbs. We've bicycled the Monument from both the east and west entries in the past couple years and if you're interested you can go to our previous blogs.

Our camp at Saddlehorn Campground in the Colorado National Monument.

The Saddlehorn Campground, on the west end of the Monument, is about half a mile from the Visitor Center. The sites are no-hookup, water is available at tapes and there are modern flush toilets. The cost is $20 per night, $10 with the Senior Pass. The view is outstanding! We chose a site with an unobstructed view of the Book Cliffs north of Grand Junction.

The Book Cliffs at sunset from our site at Saddlehorn Campground.

Colorado National Monument viewpoint on the trail from the campground to the Visitor Center.

From the campground it's an easy half-mile walk to the Visitor Center along the rim. The trail offers views into the canyons and across the mesa.

Jackie stops along the trail to the Visitor Center to catch the view.

The Visitor Center has exhibits and gift shop. We're collecting patches from all the National Monuments and Parks we visit so going to the gift shop is a must. It's also fun to talk to the rangers and get their personal recommendations on trails and other things to do. We're always impressed with the architecture of the Visitor Centers of our Parks and Monuments. The designs are inspired by the landscapes.

Colorado National Monument Visitor Center entrance.

A commemorative sculpture of John Otto.

A sculpture at the Visitor Center entrance honors John Otto who built trails, promoted and became the first custodian of the Monument.

John Otto commemorative plaque.

This year we're going to ride the Riverfront Trail along the river. Notably a very flat ride compared to the Monument.

Along the trail we met a bicyclist wearing a volunteer vest and had the chance to ride with her. She told us that a group of cyclist who rode the trail often became trail volunteers and donned their vest whenever they ride the trail. They give information, directions and helped people with any problems. What a great concept.

Jackie rides the Riverfront Trail along the Colorado River.

The Riverfront Trail is a paved trail from Fruita to Palisade along the Colorado River. It's been 25+ years in the making and the last segments have recently been completed. There are several tailheads and parking areas that provide access and toilet facilities. We started our ride from the trailhead at 7th Street in Grand Junction and rode east to Palisade and back. With plenty of day left we kept on riding to Fruita, almost to the west end of the trail, and back. I don't remember how long the trail is from one end to the other, but we had a nice, easy ride of 37 miles.

The James M. Robb - Colorado River State Park

The Gunnison River flows into the Colorado south of Grand Junction. The convergence of these two great rivers create a wetlands habitat and fishery that's rich in wildlife. The area is preserved as the Colorado River State Park. We saw a Great Blue Heron rookery in the marsh.

Riding through the wetlands at the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers.

The trail has great views of the Colorado National Monument on the horizon.

Jackie on the trail with the Colorado National Monument on the horizon.

Canada Geese sculpture along the trail.

Looking up at the Colorado National Monument. Our camp is up there somewhere.

The trail passes through riverside wildlife habitat.

Racing back to the trailhead after some pleasant hours on the bike.

We race back to the trailhead after several pleasant hours on our bikes and head back up the road to Saddlehorn campground on top of the Monument. Tomorrow we'll be on our way to Moab to spend the beautiful month of October hiking, biking and canyoneering.

Join us for our next post from Moab, UT.
'til then.
Jackie