President's Day Weekend Hiking in Southern Utah 2015
While much of the US is in a deeper freeze than normal, it's been unseasonably warm in Utah this winter. Over President's Day weekend the weather looked nice and warm in Moab, so I booked us a hotel room and started to pack. We have a 19-year-old from Alaska who lives with us and I wanted to share the Utah red rocks with him. He seemed pretty excited about it too. The littles definitely wanted to go and the hubby reluctantly agreed as he much preferred to stay home and ski.
We left on Saturday morning, heading south through Price and straight to Little Wild Horse Canyon, which is next to Goblin Valley State Park. This hike is my number one favorite hike in all of Utah. It is a series of slots with little vertical. It's great for all ages with very little climbing. This was my fourth time, the families, 3rd time and the Alaskan's first. It was so great seeing how excited he was to see the big towering rocks and skinny slots for the first time! The weather was in the upper 60s, making it warm in the sun, and quite chilly in the shaded bottom of the inner slots.
The drive from LWHC to Moab takes a little over an hour. We pulled into the Super 8 hotel ready to change and find some dinner. I had booked us a suite, but wasn't sure what that meant in Super 8 terms, as there were no pics on their website. Luckily we ended up with a very large room with two queens, a sofa sleeper, table, and kitchenette. It was clean and they have free breakfast. Definitely a hit with us!
Sunday we headed to Arches National Park. It was a fee-free weekend, so I was a little worried that it would be super crowded. We arrived at 9 am and the lots were nearly empty! The weather was nice, if not a little windy. We were good in pants and sweatshirts. I had a bad cough and no voice, but it was still a fun hike. We went to the far reaches of the park and hiked to a bunch of little arches. By the time we were hiking out, 5 miles later and around noon, the trail was loaded down with tons of families. There was even a large family with all of the women and girls wearing the same exact dress and they all had the same braid! I was glad we hiked before all those people showed up! The trail was very exposed, on top of big rocks, and really fun! We drove throughout the park looking at the many arches visible from the car. The Alaskan enjoyed hiking as high up as he could and taking lots of pictures. He is no longer a red rock virgin!
We ate at Eddie McStiffs on Sunday night. Nothing to write home to mom about. Their food was ok. They said they had about twice as many people in town as they expected.
We drove home on Monday, driving through snow and rain.
Walking in Little Wildhorse Canyon in the San Rafael Swell
A bridge in Arches National Park
Another arch in Arches
Little Wildhorse Canyon
Heading into Devils garden. Arches National Park. This trail is very exposed.
Coming out on that same trail.
Panoramic in Little Wildhorse Canyon.
Arches National Park. Overlook into the "back" country.
And the drive home on the right. How we went from nice and sunny to stormy and snowy in only a couple hundred of miles. Utah!
We left on Saturday morning, heading south through Price and straight to Little Wild Horse Canyon, which is next to Goblin Valley State Park. This hike is my number one favorite hike in all of Utah. It is a series of slots with little vertical. It's great for all ages with very little climbing. This was my fourth time, the families, 3rd time and the Alaskan's first. It was so great seeing how excited he was to see the big towering rocks and skinny slots for the first time! The weather was in the upper 60s, making it warm in the sun, and quite chilly in the shaded bottom of the inner slots.
The drive from LWHC to Moab takes a little over an hour. We pulled into the Super 8 hotel ready to change and find some dinner. I had booked us a suite, but wasn't sure what that meant in Super 8 terms, as there were no pics on their website. Luckily we ended up with a very large room with two queens, a sofa sleeper, table, and kitchenette. It was clean and they have free breakfast. Definitely a hit with us!
Sunday we headed to Arches National Park. It was a fee-free weekend, so I was a little worried that it would be super crowded. We arrived at 9 am and the lots were nearly empty! The weather was nice, if not a little windy. We were good in pants and sweatshirts. I had a bad cough and no voice, but it was still a fun hike. We went to the far reaches of the park and hiked to a bunch of little arches. By the time we were hiking out, 5 miles later and around noon, the trail was loaded down with tons of families. There was even a large family with all of the women and girls wearing the same exact dress and they all had the same braid! I was glad we hiked before all those people showed up! The trail was very exposed, on top of big rocks, and really fun! We drove throughout the park looking at the many arches visible from the car. The Alaskan enjoyed hiking as high up as he could and taking lots of pictures. He is no longer a red rock virgin!
We ate at Eddie McStiffs on Sunday night. Nothing to write home to mom about. Their food was ok. They said they had about twice as many people in town as they expected.
We drove home on Monday, driving through snow and rain.
And the drive home on the right. How we went from nice and sunny to stormy and snowy in only a couple hundred of miles. Utah!
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