Family Adventure
The family reunites in Moab!
Sand Hill
First, a stop at the sandy hill across from the entrance to Arches National Park.
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That evening, we all camped together for one overlapping night before our adventures would diverge. M has a nifty rooftop tent on his car. Camping south of Moab
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Goblin Valley
So much to explore! We could spend days wandering, climbing, and getting lost among the Goblins.
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Little Wild Horse Canyon
Everyone enjoyed clambering around in the Little Wild Horse slot canyon.
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Molly's Castle
We experimented by taking an unpaved "shortcut" road from Goblin Valley back to the main highway, but got distracted by the beauty of Molly's Castle at sunset — and decided to camp there for the night.
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We were buzzed by a squadron of paramotor trikes.
The next morning — stopping to play in some sand dunes.
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Lime Creek Watch Tower Ruin
On to Cedar Mesa!
Some rocks remain in circular formation at this elevated spot with a commanding view of the surrounding mesa. Nearby was also this curious conical structure made of branches. Ancient, or recently constructed? Hard to say. It looks about the same as when I last saw it three years ago .
Valley of the Gods
We descended the Moki Dugway, an unpaved (why is it still unpaved, I wonder?) section of Highway 261 that drops 1000 feet, from Cedar Mesa down into the Valley of the Gods.
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Once again, camping at my favorite spot in Valley of the Gods.
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Hobbs Wash Ruin
I had heard that ruin was less than a mile from a major road, so we decided to see if we could find it with our four-year old explorer.
On the way, we encountered a pair of huge friendly white sheepdogs. Apparently, we were the best thing to happen to them all day. It took a while to convince them to go back to tending their sheep.
Somehow, we brave parents managed to guide (& carry) our agile four-year-old to the ruin without any major canyon-plumeting injuries. Though this ruin is close to the road, finding our way down into the wash wasn't trivial.
Under the prickly pear cactus, the midden in front of the cave dwelling was loaded with pottery shards and flaked stone tools. It was tempting to take home some souvenirs, but we left with only photographs.
Abajo Mountains
Heading north towards Moab again, we took a detour through the Abajo Mountains, crossing Jackson Ridge at almost 10,000 ft. elevation. Patches of brilliant yellow color remained on the last autumn leaves of the aspen trees.
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Newspaper Rock
Scratched into this rock is an amazing concentration of petroglyphs.
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Arches National Park
Sunset at Window Arch and Turret Arch
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Camping again, south of Moab.
More playing on the sand hill.
Devils Garden Hike
One last visit to Arches — with Landscape Arch, and then a hike among the fins of the Devils Garden trail. This is L's favorite hike in Arches National Park.
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