Moab

Posted on by nativetrekker

I’ll just get it out the way early, Moab is not for everyone! If your idea of a good time is stalking prey at the nightclub, Moab is not for you! If you like relaxing poolside with an umbrella in your drink and a cabana boy by your side, Moab is not for you, and so on. If you like being active and outside, there may not be a better place in the world for you than in Moab, Utah.

So what does the area have to offer the active traveler? First off, there are two major National Parks just outside of town that are great for hiking and sightseeing, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Arches NP has Looney Tunes-like terrain which will bring back childhood memories of the Roadrunner versus Wiley Coyote with backdrops like arches, balanced rocks and the reddest side of the color spectrum in the sand and rocks. Canyonlands, for me, is the uncrowded and toned down version of the Grand Canyon. Although the canyon is not as large as the GC, it offers more chances for solitude and is a great place to hike, drive your off road vehicle (on the miles of dirt roads), or even do some long distance cycling on the White Rim Trail.

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Delicate Arch, Arches National Park (as modeled by Anthony Gonzales)
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Graffiti, Ancient Style (Arches NP)
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Canyonlands National Park

The area is most famous however, as the mountain biking center of the universe. And the trail that elevated the area to that status has to be the Slickrock Trail at Sand Flats Recreation Area, which is a right of passage for anyone coming to mountain bike in this part of the country. Even though Slickrock is the main attraction for mountain bikers, it will likely not even make the top five rides for most people, but is certainly the trail you ride to see what you’re made of. Other popular trails include Amassa Back, Poison Spider, Porcupine Rim and many more.

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The Warning (Slickrock Bike Trail)
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Slickrock Bike Trail, Moab, Utah

Other popular activities in the area include Jeep and OHV trails. Although this is not something that I do when I go to this area, it looks like those who do have a great time. Even in this fairly parched landscape, the iconic Colorado River practically runs right through town. The river is known for rafting (although not really whitewater rafting in the truest sense), kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding (SUP). The most popular day on the river is the appropriately named “the daily” which is a few hours of mostly lazy river drifting and a great way to stay cool in the heat.

One of the most commonly asked questions about Moab is “will I see snakes or scorpions?” And the answer is that you might. Moab is a very warm place in the summer and being primarily a desert environment, it’s only natural to think about snakes and other biting, stinging creatures. I have been to Moab maybe seven or eight times and have never seen a snake there. I know they’re there but still haven’t come across a single one yet. I have, however, seen a scorpion there. Scorpions are mostly nocturnal and are best spotted using a UV light to locate them. However, I only saw a scorpion because I intentionally went looking for them, had a UV light, the night was quite warm, and my wife was more patient/persistent in helping to find one. Admittedly, I liked seeing one and wish we had seen more.

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Scorpion Under the UV Light

Last but not least is the town of Moab itself. Moab as a town is probably not a destination in and of itself but it is a little more than just a gateway town like Estes Park, Colorado or Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Moab is extremely close to the activities that surround it. Five miles from town and you’re at Arches National Park. In Moab proper is where you’ll find the world famous Slickrock Bike Trail with Canyonlands National Park being a little bit farther by roughly 45 minutes. You’ll find the Colorado River just minutes north of town.

There are plenty of hotels and campgrounds to stay at, as well as plenty of dining options. One food recommendation I have would be Quesadilla Mobilla. It‘s a food truck (really, a food truck!), and had to be the single best meal in town and is highly rated on Yelp. The food was reasonably priced, the proportions were large, the toppings and sauces plenty, and the taste was top notch especially after a long day of playing out in the desert.

So if you’re looking for nightlife, go to Salt Lake City (kidding), but if you’re looking for some outdoor adventure and incredibly unique scenery, few places can match what you’ll find in Moab.

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Archview Campground

Lake Powell Without An Engine

Posted on by nativetrekker

Lake Powell is for those with power! Engine power that is. It is an enormous lake with extensive side canyons throughout, making any journey on the lake one that requires you to have a ski boat, houseboat, or jet ski to have the horsepower necessary to get you from one place to another. On a recent trip there with my wife, our engines on this trip would be our arms, as a kayak, rather than thehouseboat, would be the primary means of getting around the lake.  In a lake the size of Powell, 186 miles in total length and over and 1,960 miles of shoreline, that meant that to get safely off of the main lake and into the side canyons took quite some time and immense amounts of effort. These side canyons are (in my opinion) the prettiest part of the lake and have interesting features such as narrow passages, high walls, calmer water, beaches to take out of and stretch your legs, stunning rock formations and surprises around every corner.

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Lost Eden Canyon

Out on the main part of the lake, boat traffic has to be monitored closely by anyone in a small craft, especially kayaks that lie low in the water. Not all boaters are used to looking for kayaks so you have to paddle defensively, just like motorcycles have to be defensive out on the roads. As they passed, some boaters slowed down a little bit, one slowed down a lot, and once did not slow down at all, nearly causing us to capsize.  It must not be common to see a kayak on this lake because a few looked utterly shocked to see a kayak out there and a couple even looked impressed. However, I think most boaters seemed annoyed by the additional hazard that the kayaks presented. One boater was visibly irritated by us even being on the boat ramp unloading our kayaks.  Lucky for us though, we paid the same fee to be there that he did and was even told by a ranger where to launch from.

We were here the week after Labor Day, just into the off season.  The weather was still very warm as was the water but most of the people were gone, making being on the lake in a kayak during peak season hard to imagine.  Aside from occasionally playing a bit of dodgeball with houseboats, jet skis, and ski boats, the experience of kayaking in the high desert landscape of Utah on such a large lake was a surreal and memorable experience.  Paddling  in the canyons, especially Lost Eden Canyon, was like boating through a maze and as you go deeper into the canyon arm, the water got flatter and flatter, making the paddling very easy.  If there are two things that can make paddling easier it’s light wind and and small waves. There wasn’t much of either of those happening when you get off of the main lake and into the smaller canyons where the boats are fewer, the ones that are there are going slower, and the canyon walls are so high that the winds can’t get in.

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Moqui Canyon

 

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Moon rising, sun setting

Ideally, learning from this experience, having a kayak on this lake would be best if you use a boat with an engine to get you and your kayaks to the side canyons from a marina or boat ramp rather than paddling all the way to them, many miles in some cases. This way, you don’t expend the majority of your energy just getting to the mouth of the canyon arm. Once you arrive at the mouth, you could have many miles of paddling to get to the end (if you choose to go that far) and of course, many back. But if you choose to kayak without the support of a boat, you can still have a great time, and we did, just expect your natural engine to be sore for the next week after you get home!

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Parting Shot – Sunset near Halls Crossing