MOAB AND BEYOND

 

 

We took the back way to Moab, driving highway 128 along the Colorado River.  This took us right past the Fisher Towers, Castle Valley, and Castleton Tower.  We were behind schedule, but the 4 ½ mile hike along the base of the Fisher Towers was high on my priority list.  We could’ve driven back over there the following morning, but that would’ve been out of the way.  We decided to make an evening hike out it.

 

A short drive off the main road brought us to an informal camping area and trailhead.  The parking lot is right at the base of the western end of the Fisher Towers.  The Fisher Towers are incredible vertical walls of red sandstone.  It is a popular rock climbing area, in cooler weather.  We arrived at 7:15 and it was still 98 degrees!

 

We hiked the trail that follows the base of the cliffs out to a sweeping viewpoint.  There are great views all along the way, mainly of the spires of red rock surrounding us.  We were also treated to impressive views of the Colorado River and Castleton Tower in the distance.  We passed a single family early on, but didn’t see anyone else during the entire hike.  We did see a snake.  I didn’t get a good look at it, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t poisonous. 

 

Christy did about half the hike but stopped at a great viewpoint of the Colorado River.  I continued on to the base of the Titan, the tallest of the Fisher Towers.  I continued on to the end of the trail, which offers a great view south towards Castleton Tower.  I arrived just in time for sunset.  Afterwards I hurried back to rejoin Christy for the hike to the car.  The last mile was slow, as Christy had gotten sunscreen in her eyes.  That didn’t prevent her from seeing dozens of tiny glowing lights all around us.  It first we were mystified.  Christy investigated one of them, and discovered that it was a spider.  It was glowing in the dark, or reflecting the light from our headlamps.

 

It was almost 10 when we returned to the car.  We drove into Moab hoping to find a restaurant open late.  It didn’t look promising.  We went to Eddie McStiff’s, since Google said that it was open until 11.  We arrived before 11 and the bar was open, but they were no longer selling food.  Sigh.  We settled for Wendy’s, which we ate in the car as we headed out Kane Creek Road in search of a campsite.

 

Not far from town we passed a campground on the Colorado River at King Bottoms.  We should’ve stopped there, but kept going out towards Kane Creek.  We eventually stopped at the Ledges C campground, which is remote and primitive.  It would’ve been a nice place, but the bugs were awful.  Apparently there is just enough water in Kane Creek to allow mosquitoes to breed.  The moths may have been worse – swarms of them were in our faces as we pitched the tent.  We went straight to bed once it was up, exhausted from a long, eventful day.

 

We got up early the next morning, but the bugs weren’t far behind.  Cooking and eating breakfast at the campground was out of the question.  We decided to drive into Moab for breakfast.  Along the way we passed the trailhead for Funnel Arch, which had been high on the to-do list.  We decided against doing it on empty stomachs though.  We did make a quick stop at the Birthing Scene petroglyphs, which are a short distance down the road.  The petroglyphs are impressive, as they cover all sides of a large boulder.  There are a wide variety of images, but the namesake is the most striking – a woman giving birth.  This ancient art was well worth a few minutes of time and the short walk from the car.

 

In Moab we stopped at the Eklecticafe for breakfast.  It’s a cute little place with good coffee and excellent huevos rancherous.  Afterwards we headed south out of Moab on 191.  Our next stop was Wilson Arch, was is just above the road.  Since we had missed out on Funnel Arch (and Corona and Bowtie Arches, which are also near Moab), we decided to check this one out.  There is a good view of the arch from the road, but for the full experience you need to walk up a steep path with sketchy footing.  I did that, hiking up to the very base of the arch.  The views from there are cool, and I took photos from every possible angle.

 

Afterwards we drove down through Blanding and out onto the Cedar Mesa.  This area is loaded with rock art and ancient Anasazi ruins.  We had really enjoyed our only previous hike here, to the ruins in Road Canyon, way back in 2002.  Since we were passing near the area, I’d made a last-minute decision to do a short hike to the House on Fire ruin in Mule Canyon.  It is a particularly picturesque cliff dwelling with surprisingly easy access.  The trailhead is right off of highway 95, and the ruins are an easy 1 mile walk up the South Fork of Mule Canyon.  It was late morning when we arrived, but still only in the 80’s.  There was a nice breeze, too, which made the conditions downright pleasant.  We enjoyed the easy stroll up the canyon, following a well-traveled trail parallel to the dry wash.  There was a lot to see along here, including junipers, wildflowers and blooming cacti, and even a small pool full of tadpools.  After about 30 minutes we spotted the ruins in the cliffs just above us.  We climbed up to check them out.

 

There are 3 or 4 stone walls with windows / doorways built right into the side of the cliff.  Apparently there are some petroglyphs here too, but we couldn’t find them.  The ruins are called “House on Fire” because of the brilliant red rock cliffs.  It was beautiful, and it was fascinating to see where the Anasazi had lived a thousand years ago.

 

This area is part of the Bear’s Ears National Monument, which was established by President Obama in 2016.  The new national monument protects over 1,000 archaeological sites.  However, the Trump administration has proposed eliminating or reducing the size of the monument.  This act would be unprecedented and would only serve to appease a handful of special interests (meaning large donors to the Republican Party). 

 

You can read more about Bear’s Ears National Monument here:  https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/bears-ears-national-monument

 

Here is an overview of Trump’s proposal to reduce the Monument:  http://billmoyers.com/story/disappearing-bears-ears-national-monument/

 

After our hike we drove west on 95 and then south on 261 towards Mexican Hat.  After a few miles we took a dirt road out to Muley Point.  This point is on the edge of the plateau.  From the brink of the cliffs, we gazed out over the goosenecks of the San Juan River, with the towers of Monument Valley rising from the desert in the distance.  It’s an incredible view, extending well into northeastern Arizona.  A couple of other people came and went while we were there, but we had it mostly to ourselves.  It had been a pleasantly peaceful day overall, as we’d had total solitude in Mule Canyon.  Even my visit to Wilson Arch had been a quiet one, despite being right next to a major road.

 

I’m not sure if it is legal, but it looks like you could camp at Muley Point.  We will keep that in mind in the future!

 

From there we drove down the Moki Dugway – an exciting road that descends precipitous switchbacks all the way to the base of the cliffs.  Once at the bottom, we took the loop road through Valley of the Gods.  This is a fun road that winds among an impressive collection of redrock spires.  The road sometimes requires 4WD, but it seemed to be in good shape when we were there.  I think we could’ve gotten through it in most any vehicle.

 

We stopped at a gas station in Mexican Hat for cold drinks.  Christy’s eyes were still bothering her, so she bought some Visine.  The gas station actually sold Visine BY THE CASE.  That should tell you everything you need to know about southeast Utah!

 

From there we drove down through the famous Monument Valley on the Arizona border.  Originally I’d planned to hike there, but we had been fooling around all morning and were out of time.  Monument Valley is scenic, but it is Navajo land, and if you want to do anything there you have to buy a $20 entrance permit.  Most of the hikes and backroads require a native guide, too.  We ended up just driving through, but we did stop at a couple of overlooks to check out the scenery.

 

From there we drove straight to Flagstaff.  We passed by the San Francisco peaks, which are the highest mountains in Arizona.  Unfortunately there was a wildfire burning there, and the smoke reduced the views.  We hit Flagstaff right at rush hour and went straight to REI.  We bought a new Jet Boil stove and then hit the Beaver Street Brewery for dinner.  The food was pretty good, but I only had one beer, as we still had a long drive ahead of us.  We were starting our backpacking trip into Havasu the next morning, and needed to camp near the trailhead so we could get an early start.

 

Google Maps showed that the 166 mile drive from Flagstaff to Hualapai Hilltop (the trailhead for Havasu) would take over 4 hours.  That was puzzling, considering that most of those miles were on a freeway.  Was the rest of the road terrible?  At any rate, if Google Maps was correct, we’d be getting there very late. 



Continue reading about our trip as we backpack into Havasu Canyon in Arizona.

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