Look kids, an Arch! Look Desiree, a Cliff!
Once we moved to the KOA in Moab we were set to visit Arches and Canyonlands, and at least one of these is admittedly one of the stops I was most looking forward to as we have been planning our trip. But first things first - the pool. Advertised as “heated” it was a solid 68 degrees, if I’m being generous. The pacific at the Redwoods felt warmer, but I digress. Again, the kids just don’t care as long as they are wet and floating, playing games, or splashing each other. A post-swim hot shower was still in order to prevent hypothermia. Since we arrived mid-week and Aaron had to work, we checked out some smaller trails after he was done working for the day, like the Poison Spider Dinosaur trail. For this one Amelia and I decided to quit half-way and let the more adventurous half of our family go ahead scaling the side of the hill where the dinosaur tracks are fossilized.
Visiting Arches National Park was a big day! We had no less than 100,000 hikes planned (I think we accomplished 5). When I plan out the trips to parks I always try and find what will work best for our whole family. It has to be challenging enough to be fun, have enough variety that the kids don’t get bored and we can trick them into walking 10 miles in a day, and not be so adventurous that I don’t have any fun at all because I’m too worried someone will fall off a cliff. Arches had so many options for our family. We started the day with Double Arch Trailand then did the Windows Loop and Turret Arch hike. After this the kids played in the small slot canyon and sand at Sand Dune Arch Trail. This was the finest sand I’ve ever encountered,ndust from the eroding features, and we lost a couple pairs of shoes having every unreachable crevice filled with sand that would never come out. We made some tactical errors and ended walking too many miles in the hot sand to walk the Broken Arch Trail, but the solitude was welcomed. We opted to skip the journey to delicate arch and viewed it from afar, and then made sure to see balanced rock on our way out with the setting sun lighting it and a visiting raven up so beautifully.
The next day we tackled Canyonlands, heading in early to be done before the massive (unseasonable) snow storm arrived. Canyonlands tackled my resolve and Aaron’s ability to handle my anxiety. I found out, for example, that ANY human dangling on the precipice of death on a cliff edge (specifically on the Mesa Arch Trail) is enough to send me into a panic attack (its not just an honor that my children possess). Seeing where the Colorado river cuts through the earth was fascinating, and being the weather junkie that I am I relished watching the impending doom of the storm roll in from afar (such a different experience from living where there are trees to block your view).
And then holy sh*t, it snowed! I mean it was only an inch or so, but that didn’t stop my children from loosing their ever-loving minds and scraping up every last snowflake to make a weapon of some sort. And Aaron and I got to figure out what the hell we needed to do to make sure all the important bits of our RV didn’t freeze and bust, considering it was getting into the teens at night and not above freezing for a couple of days. This was learning by firing squad and I’m happy to say that we found Big Dan to be quite robust in the cold weather. The space heaters Aaron bought were a life-saver because the electric heater doesn’t work in temperatures below 40 (and we were nearly out of propane). Then we ran around to look at the cliffs and arches in the snow.
We learned A LOT on this stretch of our trip. For me the best part was venturing back into Arches to do some night photography. It was a full moon so the land was lit up at exactly 12% what daytime would be. That meant that star photos were out of the question, but I played with nightscapes, having the moon light up the landscape with its gentle, forgiving light. It was invigorating and freezing running around in the dark all by myself.
