Bringing 2012 to a Close

Alisha says: This year for Christmas we tried to stick to the warmer climates by only traveling to Phoenix and San Diego. We enjoyed Christmas hanging out with Dave's family in Phoenix. The day after Christmas we all loaded up and headed to San Diego for a family vacation. The first evening we arrived we visited the Mormon Battalion Historical Museum and got an idea of what it would have been like to walk from Iowa to San Diego as part of the U.S. Army.

The next day was spent at Sea World. We watched the sea lion, dolphin and cat/dog show. I was impressed by all of the tricks that they have been trained to do. The penguin exhibit was cool but my favorite part was helping Kaylee and Rachel feed the bat rays.

There were a few various colds going around in the family. Ivan ended up getting really sick and so the next morning one of the cars had to head back to Phoenix. So Dave and I ended up staying in San Diego and being the responsible adults :) with Daniel, Katie and Christine's two oldest daughters, Kaylee and Rachel. We planned a fun day of spending some time at the beach and then another afternoon at Sea World. The best thing we saw the second day was the shark exhibit. We walked through a tube surrounded by water, it was cool when the sharks would swim right over your head and you could see all of their teeth.

Our last morning we went to Cabrillo National Monument and checked out the great views, lighthouse and did a small hike. Kaylee got her junior ranger badge and then we loaded up in the van and drove back to Phoenix.

The last few days of 2012 were spent helping Christine and Parker move across town into their new home that is closer to the rest of the family. I almost made it through the 10 day vacation without catching any illness but it got me on the last day. I think the final count was that 12 out of 14 people ended up sick. I guess that is what happens when little kids are around and then you travel in the same car together. Here is to a healthy and happy 2013!

 Dave's best pioneer face

 

Dolphin show at Sea World

   

 

 

 

 The Bat Rays

 Mission Beach

 Looking towards San Diego from Cabrillo National Monument

Thanksgiving at the Grand Canyon

Alisha says: Thanksgiving morning we got up and went on one last adventure in Moab before driving to the Grand Canyon to meet up with Dave's family for a few days. The last thing we did in Moab was a hike to Morning Glory Arch. We had such a fun time in Moab that we are ranking it as one of our top adventures.

The Grand Canyon is spectacular. I love standing on the rim and taking it all in. Everyone from Dave's family was there so there was a big group of 14 of us. Dave had a fun time getting all of the nieces wound up, they liked to try and steal his hat during the whole trip. We hike Red Butte (located just outside the Canyon), and to Dripping Springs down the Hermit Trail. Dave had fun talking lots of politics with his mom while we were hiking and I just liked to take in the view and learn about the geology of the canyon from his dad.

Moab: Day 5

Dave says: For our final full day in Moab, we tried to up our number of daily adventures from 3 to 4. It was pitch black and freezing as we were driving the atv back to the car at the end of adventure number 3 (we never made it to the sand dunes for adventure number 4) and it felt like a fitting end to our series of adventures to go from sunrise until after sunset.

 

We spent the day to the north of Moab and first did a mtb ride on the Moab Brand trails. We began with the Lazy E followed by the Rockin' A (bumpy slickrock that would have been perfect for a 5 inch trail bike but Alisha got to show off her much improved technical skills) and finally the Bar M which is a fairly flat and fast old jeep road.

 

 

It was a big day on the mountain bikes today because we threw them in the car, drove a few miles north, and then unloaded them (we didn't even take off our cycling shoes) and started on the Klondike Bluffs trail. Alisha liked riding up the big sheets of sandstone and was excited to find a mtb trail where she had to wait for me rather than the other way around. At the end of the Klondike Bluffs trail is a half-mile hike into Arches National Park to overlook the bluffs. We parked our bikes and walked in to see some great views. We looped back on the more technical Baby Steps and Little Salty trails before finishing with the Dino Flow trail which did have a good flow to it. 

Right across the street was the start of our atv adventure for the day. We drove Ten Mile Wash (although my odometer said 11.6 and we didn't even do the part that requires winching at the end) for a nice change of pace with a generally sandy trip down a canyon with tall sandstone walls on each side. The canyon traps the cold air and at one point we drove across a slightly frozen section of the stream that must not get much sun light during the day. I hoped that we would make it through the canyon in time to hit the sand dunes on the way back for adventure #4 (I even put my flag on the back of the atv for the dunes) but we ran out of daylight long before we made it back to the car and had a cold and dark ride back (or romantic sunset and moon-lit ride back depending on how you look at it). The best part of the ride back was the heated grips on the atv so at least one part of you was warm. We pulled into town and ate at the Moab Diner scarfing down a hot meal way too quickly and then rushing home for a shower.

Moab: Day 4

Dave says: Yesterday was the adrenalin day. Today was the day when we escaped into the wilderness to some of Moab’s most picturesque areas. We spent the day based off Kane Creek Road and started in the morning with a hike/scramble. We began by going up Pritchett Creek but took the first left up an unnamed canyon (thanks to an employee at the local canyoneering store and some various blog posts for the idea) and scrambled up a scarcely traveled route into what is known as the “behind the rocks” area.

Along the way there were some good scrambles: 

There were also some great moments when we got to the top of the scramble and the sandstone fins opened up with amazing views.



We turned around after a number of scrambles and some hiking that took us to the top of one of the fins with great views in all directions. We were looking for an arch called Pool Arch that we read about on the internet (this is not really even a trail so information is somewhat sparse). We never saw it, but a careful look at the photos of others showed that the arch is right below us- a cut out on the very fin that you can see me standing on. Oh well, I guess that leaves something for next time.

Our second adventure was an atv trip out of the same parking lot from which we started our hike. We first went up the dirt part of Kane Creek Road, then up Hurrah Pass, then on a trail paralleling the river edge known as Chicken Corners. The route eventually took us to a great viewpoint overlooking the river. On the other side of the river is Canyonlands National Park. It was quite a nice spot for lunch.

Our final adventure of the day was a trip up Upper Kane Creek Road. At first the trail was rough with lots of boulders and I was unimpressed. However, after a few miles we dropped right into Kane Creek and this is where things got exciting with a bunch of creek crossings (25 according to my atv guide book) and some tight sandy trail with banked corners. As usual, we made it back to the car right as the sun was going down and right as the atv was on empty (I carry a gallon extra just in case). Driving back in the canyon bottom was quite chilly and I was glad to have heated grips on the atv so that my hands could roast while my face froze.

On our way back into town, we drove right to the local pizza joint and ordered their largest size pizza to carry back to the hotel room. I ate a couple slices, realized how dirty I was and hopped in the shower, then got out and ate some more. Another exciting day of adventure finished and we are already looking at the map trying to plan out tomorrow.

Moab: Day 3

Dave says: On day 3 in Moab, we did all the legendary stuff and it proved to be a legendary day. We spent the day in the Sand Flats recreation area up above the town where the slickrock is everywhere. First, we tackled the Slickrock Trail on our mountain bikes. Hardly anyone was on the trail and it only took Alisha a few miles to realize that slickrock has better traction than asphalt and riding many of the obstacles is a lot like taking a road bike up a 40% grade. The thing about slickrock is that you will run out of power before you run out of grip. I managed to make it through all the obstacles on the trail including the infamous "Cogs to Spare" that I tipped over and bounced down during my first visit to Moab (while my friends Alex and Clay took a picture of me laying in a heap).

Adventure #2 was the atv trail Fins N Things which is a short but sweet trail along some of the huge slickrock fins that undulate up and down. A doubletrack of black tire wear marked the route (note: the darker the black, the worse the obstacle) along with white painted dinosaurs on the slickrock. The south section of the trail is apparently "not recommended" for atvs due to a couple of large drops (see one pictured below). The rock is near-vertical but the roll out is so good that I just hit the gas rather than the brake and cruised right down it without feeling tippy.

 

 

The final adventure of the day was the trail Hell's Revenge (also apparently not recommended for atvs according to my guidebook, but online is ranked as the best atv trail in all of Moab). This trail was absolutely unbelievable. Top atv trail I have ever ridden hands down! Sometimes you are about to pee your pants with excitement, other times with nervousness (and sometimes these moments are only seconds apart). This trail pushed my limits to the maximum climbing and descending massive slickrock fins that were far steeper than anything I had ever driven. As you approach these obstacles, some are incredibly scary to look at. Yet, when you're on them the atv just sticks to the rock and soon you have cleared the obstacle and are laughing a bit to yourself that you made it. No close calls today though, I stop to look at the tough stuff and plan the route carefully. I can't wait to come back and do this one again (preferably with someone who has never done it before and will be scared out of their mind). 

 

Moab: Day 2

Dave says: Hike, atv, bike, sleep. Here are the highlights from an amazing day 2 in Moab. We started the day with a hike out to Corona Arch. The weather was amazing and so was the scenery.

 

 

 

 

From the hike, we went directly to the trailhead of the famous Poison Spider Trail. This trail climbs up into the slickrock mesas with some tough obstacles and some incredible views. 

 

This trail ended at an overlook with a great view of Moab. We stopped here for some PB & J for lunch.

 

 

The Poison Spider trail often joins the Golden Spike trail and we headed off on this trail for a bit of a detour. Here's an amazing rock that we climbed up. It wasn't overly steep and so I turned around at the top, came back down to pick Alisha up, and then drove back to the top with her. The other side had a descent that was much steeper. On the way back, I hit it going up rather than down.

 

 

On the way back, we went down a few tough obstacles. They were actually all easier on going down than going up though. I had one on the "Waterfall" that I had to take two shots at going up and it took a bit of speed and spinning all four wheels to make it up. No close calls though. There are some obstacles that we just don't have a long enough wheelbase for and I leave those to the modified Jeeps.

 

 

Finally, we made it back in time to go on a sunset bike ride. Right across the street from our hotel is a paved trail that leads out towards Arches and Canyon Lands. Our easy ride took us up just past the turnoff to Arches and we made it back right as it was getting dark.

Moab: Day 1

Dave says: We left for Moab on Friday afternoon and drove halfway to Holbrook.  On Saturday morning, we did the second leg of the trip and made it to the south side of town by the early afternoon with plenty of daylight left for a big adventure. On this trip, we loaded mountain bikes inside the Mazda5 with our hiking gear and pulled the atv behind us. The plan was to do multiple adventures of different types every day of the trip.

 

 

Our first adventure was out of the Hook and Ladder OHV area. There was incredible scenery and some great slickrock. On the slickrock, they paint the  The trail ultimately led out to an overlook of Wilso arch but one of the best parts was El Diablo, a major slickrock climb that was crazy-steep. I have never gone up anything this steep on an atv before but the traction on sandstone is incredible. Alisha hopped off and pulled out her phone to snap some photos here:

On the way back, we took a really amazing trail that followed some 100+ foot tall sandstone cliffs and was like a roller coaster of sand and rock. We finished just after 5 pm right as it was getting dark. When we got to our deluxe accomodations (Motel 6), we made an equally deluxe dinner in the room (canned soup) and planned out our adventures for the next day.