Moab 2020

For my friends 50th birthday we wanted to go to Moab and asked if I could show him around. This was my third time to Moab so I knew some of the places but was ready to explore new stuff! We headed out of Phoenix on the Day 1 and came up on a campsite at Hittle Bottom late in the afternoon. We set up camp, cracked some wine and enjoyed the sunset over the river and Fisher Towers.

Day 2 we woke up and packed camp to find something a little closer to town. We got lucky and found a great spot at the first campsite from town off 128 at Goose Island. We established camp and began the day. We headed towards Arches. The park entrance was closed due to capacity so we resorted to our Moab trail book and found Willow Springs road, which led right to Balancing Rock after about 8 miles of fun trail. Once in the park we went to Devils Garden and fixed some lunch. After lunch we loaded our camelbaks with water and snacks and headed towards Landscape Arch. This was a beautiful free standing arch that spans over 300 feet in width. A little further up the trail we came to Double O Arch which was like a figure 8 of arches that swept through the sandstone. We headed back to the truck and drove back to camp. Once back at camp I cooked a birthday dinner that included pork chops with a apple chutney and asparagus. After dinner we headed back into Arches National Park to try and do some night photography but around midnight the clouds rolled in and we were unable to shoot the night sky. Although the moon made for epic shadows along with the overcast of the clouds.

Day 3 started with a stop in town for coffee and donuts. I had the best cronut of my life at Doughbird. If you're ever in town make sure to stop and get donuts and cronuts, they were amazing. After a sweet breakfast we began on Potash Road. This led up through a couple hours of fun and not so technical trail that brought us into Canyonlands National Park. We made our way up the Shafer switchbacks on White Rim Road before getting to the visitor center. Here we made a quick stop and got back on to a trail called Gemini Bridges which brought us through the Mag 7 mountain biking area and to the natural earth bridges. After a pit stop at the bridges that included our lunch we made our way back to town. Once into town we ate Moab Brewery and grabbed some extra beer to bring back to camp. It was a peaceful night around our campfire listening to Grateful Dead and other 70's era rock.

Day 4 we made our way towards the La Sal mountains. We took Geyser Pass all the way to the summit and over the other side. There were hundreds of bikes up here dropping into the Whole Enchilada. After stopping at several little lakes and side trails we had made it to the end of the trail and picked up La Sal Pass to get us back over to the west side of the mountains. This trail was much more technical with several tight spots cutting through the brush and trees. The fall colors on the side were amazing. The vibrant gold leaves with creeks and wildlife made this pass back a fun trail day. It was early afternoon when we finished so we decided to head to Slick Rock State Park to finish the day. Here we ran one of my favorite trails in Moab called Fins and Things. It is a trail on top of a bunch of slick rock with lots of fun obstacles. We ran out of time or we were going to run Hells Revenge which I will do next time I am in Moab. Made our way to camp and had made some dinner and enjoyed our last night under the dark starry night.

As we packed up camp to head back to Phoenix there were people driving around looking for sites and we gave our spot to someone. The truck was loaded, we stopped for gas and enjoyed a breakfast sandwich and coffee at Moab Coffee Roasters. The trek south towards Phoenix was full of wind and dust. We decided to drive through Petrified Forest National Park which actually was super interesting. I learned that Arizona used to be a wild tropical jungle filled will dinosaurs, almost like the movie Jurassic Park, when Pangaea . The petrified logs in this area are millions of years old. Back on the road we made it back as the sun was setting, unloaded the truck and called it a day.

This trip was very special to me because I got to spend it with one my best friends and help him celebrate 50 years on this planet. Moab as always so much fun and the views never get old. Perfect weather, great trails and even better company made this trip perfect. Can't wait too go back!