Southern Utah Vacation - short trip report
May 17th, 2009, 08:55 AM
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Southern Utah Vacation - short trip report
I was debating between arranging a home exchange on the Oregon Coast or a camping trip to southern Utah when my best friend (who has been hearing about Moab for 15 years) called to say she and her fiance could join me for a few days in Moab. So, Moab it is!
Life long best friend is not a camper or hiker, but her fiance is a big hiker. Rather than camping, I arranged a home exchange with a guy in Moab and we were on for their first time experience. C flew into SLC, I picked her up at the airport and we were off to Moab. It was a beautiful drive with the valleys breaking out in springtime green and flowers blooming. Up across the Soldier Summit through Spanish Fork Canyon on Hwy, 6, there were still patches of snow, May 8.
We got in to Moab about 5pm, made a quick stop at the State Liquor Store for a bottle of wine and went on to the home exchange. No problem finding the house, but oops, we were locked out! Not what we were expecting given our instructions. Unfortunately, the owner had e mailed me his garage combo as a backup access plan, but I had been so busy and stressed out at work before leaving that I had overlooked it in an old e mail!!! Owner was away in France on another home exchange and unreachable. Lesson learned and experience gained for next home exchange.....
Town was very busy, being a spring weekend, so we had to search for a place. Seemed enough hotels rooms were available. AVOID - the Ramada Inn. Under "renovation" and the desk staff are COMPLETELY untrained and unprofessional, clueless at best. Since I know Moab pretty well, I insisted on seeing the room before commiting. They actually tried to rent us a room with no functioning lights (except in the bath) for $129.00! I don't think so. The room we saw was a real dump.
We went on over to the Comfort Suites where we got a very nice, clean room for much less and a good breakfast included. After settling in, we drove up into Arches to see the formations under the full moon. It was a real Oohh, aahh moment for C!
Next day we packed our stuff up, but made reservations for the next 2 nights in case we still couldn't access the home exchange house and headed off to Island in the Sky and Dead Horse.
C loved the scenery and we even did the short hike out to Mesa Arch. Then headed out the Potash Rd. to see the rock art and rock climbers. It's a great place to see a large amount of drawings with easy access for those who may have mobility problems. I took my parents out here a couple years ago too. Watch for the sign "Indian Writing" on your left next to the CO River. the actual rock art will be on your right - on the red cliffs of course.
Time to meet the fiance (who was driving up from Albuquerque) back at the house and see if we could get in. No response yet from owner who we e mailed in France. Thanks to fiance's McGiver skills we were able to get in and get settled. Nice home, but not as clean as I would expect. Oh well, he's a batchelor. Nice deck out back, very nice resident cat.
We went off to diner at the Desert Cafe to celebrate fiance's birthday. C had wild mushroom risotto, fiance had swordfish and I had beef tenderloin. We shared a seared ahi appetizer that was fabulous. All delicious! So glad we chose the Desert Cafe (I had been there before) rather than the Thai place mentioned by beachvan in their trip report.
Our next day was spent in Arches. We started off with the hike to Delicate Arch, since if C was going to do it at all it had to be first before it warmed up. With a lot of encouragement, she made it and was glad. Declared the hike worth it once up there! After that we went in to Sand Dune Arch and had lunch. C particularly liked this one since you go through some fins to get to it. The short hike out to Landscape Arch did her in, so we didn't continue on to see where Wall Arch had collapsed last year.
We had dinner at the house on the deck and enjoyed watching the jackrabbits scampering around the sagebrush.
Next morning we headed out early to finish seeing the Windows section of Arches before C and finace had to head back to Albuquerque. This was more C's style of "hiking" and she enjoyed it. It was a very short intro for my friends, but they will return for more in the future.
I stayed another night, left the house cleaner than we found it, then headed out for the next leg of my vacation - Valley of the Gods. The drive from Moab took about 3 hours since I did the VOG dirt road loop in the late afternoon and took lots of photos. This is a wonderful spot for photographers and artists!
At VOG B&B, I stayed 2 nts in the "Root Cellar", a tiny place separate from the main ranch house. It's very unique! The original root cellar, complete with rock walls, has been turned into a bedroom with a king bed filling nearly all the space. A TINY, tight spiral staircase goes up to a small sitting area and nice sized bathroom with all the amenities. A lovely wooden porch with patio furniture has awesome views to just sit, relax and enjoy! When I went to bed, the bedroom was in total darkness (even though there is an entrance downstairs too). Just a little too creepy for me, so I left a small light on upstairs.
Valley of the Gods B&B is a place I would definitely recommend. Claire and Gary are excellent hosts and the B&B is very comfortable and clean. Breakfasts were good and unique. A little nest of birds were under the porch awning. Lots of birds in the desert, wildflowers and, of course, zillions of lizards! The cactus were getting ready to bloom.
I spent my time visiting Natural Bridges where I hiked down to Supapi (SP?) bridge - fun, interesting hike with steel stairways and a tree limb ladder. It does get hot down in the canyon!
Next I was off to Capitol Reef, one of my favorite places. Weather on the trip was absolutely perfect, a couple days a little windy. In the 70's, almost too warm for long hikes in the intense sun with no shade. Mid-May is the very latest I would recommend for going to this part of our world. Mid-April is usually nicer hiking weather.
In Capitol Reef I stayed at a place new for me, Torrey Pines Inn. I had their "Cottage", small but complete kitchenette, twin beds downstairs and a king upstairs in a spacious loft bedroom. This would be a good option for a family or very close friends, but not 2 couples, as the only bath opens right off the bedroom with the twin beds. Don't drop the soap, the shower is too small, even for a 5'4" woman. Very nice 3 sided porch around the cottage. Again, awesome views and a great place for relaxing after a day of hiking. Hummingbird feeders attract lots of hummers and other birds too. It was spotlessly clean and a super comfortable bed. However, the place is not professionaly decorated, so if that's important to you, brace yourself. It's a real mishmash of furniture and decor, silk flowers abound. Once you get over that, it's great.
Erika and Eldon are extremely nice people and Erika's homemade muffins are killer good!
Cafe Diablo was excellent as usual and Capitol Reef gorgeous in spring.
At all the parks there were more German and French visitors than Americans! A few Brits too. It's been a long time since I've seen so many European visitors so I guess the economic conditions are having an influence.
Hope this helps with some ideas for Fodorites planning a southern Utah trip! Any quesitons, I'll try to answer.
Life long best friend is not a camper or hiker, but her fiance is a big hiker. Rather than camping, I arranged a home exchange with a guy in Moab and we were on for their first time experience. C flew into SLC, I picked her up at the airport and we were off to Moab. It was a beautiful drive with the valleys breaking out in springtime green and flowers blooming. Up across the Soldier Summit through Spanish Fork Canyon on Hwy, 6, there were still patches of snow, May 8.
We got in to Moab about 5pm, made a quick stop at the State Liquor Store for a bottle of wine and went on to the home exchange. No problem finding the house, but oops, we were locked out! Not what we were expecting given our instructions. Unfortunately, the owner had e mailed me his garage combo as a backup access plan, but I had been so busy and stressed out at work before leaving that I had overlooked it in an old e mail!!! Owner was away in France on another home exchange and unreachable. Lesson learned and experience gained for next home exchange.....
Town was very busy, being a spring weekend, so we had to search for a place. Seemed enough hotels rooms were available. AVOID - the Ramada Inn. Under "renovation" and the desk staff are COMPLETELY untrained and unprofessional, clueless at best. Since I know Moab pretty well, I insisted on seeing the room before commiting. They actually tried to rent us a room with no functioning lights (except in the bath) for $129.00! I don't think so. The room we saw was a real dump.
We went on over to the Comfort Suites where we got a very nice, clean room for much less and a good breakfast included. After settling in, we drove up into Arches to see the formations under the full moon. It was a real Oohh, aahh moment for C!
Next day we packed our stuff up, but made reservations for the next 2 nights in case we still couldn't access the home exchange house and headed off to Island in the Sky and Dead Horse.
C loved the scenery and we even did the short hike out to Mesa Arch. Then headed out the Potash Rd. to see the rock art and rock climbers. It's a great place to see a large amount of drawings with easy access for those who may have mobility problems. I took my parents out here a couple years ago too. Watch for the sign "Indian Writing" on your left next to the CO River. the actual rock art will be on your right - on the red cliffs of course.
Time to meet the fiance (who was driving up from Albuquerque) back at the house and see if we could get in. No response yet from owner who we e mailed in France. Thanks to fiance's McGiver skills we were able to get in and get settled. Nice home, but not as clean as I would expect. Oh well, he's a batchelor. Nice deck out back, very nice resident cat.
We went off to diner at the Desert Cafe to celebrate fiance's birthday. C had wild mushroom risotto, fiance had swordfish and I had beef tenderloin. We shared a seared ahi appetizer that was fabulous. All delicious! So glad we chose the Desert Cafe (I had been there before) rather than the Thai place mentioned by beachvan in their trip report.
Our next day was spent in Arches. We started off with the hike to Delicate Arch, since if C was going to do it at all it had to be first before it warmed up. With a lot of encouragement, she made it and was glad. Declared the hike worth it once up there! After that we went in to Sand Dune Arch and had lunch. C particularly liked this one since you go through some fins to get to it. The short hike out to Landscape Arch did her in, so we didn't continue on to see where Wall Arch had collapsed last year.
We had dinner at the house on the deck and enjoyed watching the jackrabbits scampering around the sagebrush.
Next morning we headed out early to finish seeing the Windows section of Arches before C and finace had to head back to Albuquerque. This was more C's style of "hiking" and she enjoyed it. It was a very short intro for my friends, but they will return for more in the future.
I stayed another night, left the house cleaner than we found it, then headed out for the next leg of my vacation - Valley of the Gods. The drive from Moab took about 3 hours since I did the VOG dirt road loop in the late afternoon and took lots of photos. This is a wonderful spot for photographers and artists!
At VOG B&B, I stayed 2 nts in the "Root Cellar", a tiny place separate from the main ranch house. It's very unique! The original root cellar, complete with rock walls, has been turned into a bedroom with a king bed filling nearly all the space. A TINY, tight spiral staircase goes up to a small sitting area and nice sized bathroom with all the amenities. A lovely wooden porch with patio furniture has awesome views to just sit, relax and enjoy! When I went to bed, the bedroom was in total darkness (even though there is an entrance downstairs too). Just a little too creepy for me, so I left a small light on upstairs.
Valley of the Gods B&B is a place I would definitely recommend. Claire and Gary are excellent hosts and the B&B is very comfortable and clean. Breakfasts were good and unique. A little nest of birds were under the porch awning. Lots of birds in the desert, wildflowers and, of course, zillions of lizards! The cactus were getting ready to bloom.
I spent my time visiting Natural Bridges where I hiked down to Supapi (SP?) bridge - fun, interesting hike with steel stairways and a tree limb ladder. It does get hot down in the canyon!
Next I was off to Capitol Reef, one of my favorite places. Weather on the trip was absolutely perfect, a couple days a little windy. In the 70's, almost too warm for long hikes in the intense sun with no shade. Mid-May is the very latest I would recommend for going to this part of our world. Mid-April is usually nicer hiking weather.
In Capitol Reef I stayed at a place new for me, Torrey Pines Inn. I had their "Cottage", small but complete kitchenette, twin beds downstairs and a king upstairs in a spacious loft bedroom. This would be a good option for a family or very close friends, but not 2 couples, as the only bath opens right off the bedroom with the twin beds. Don't drop the soap, the shower is too small, even for a 5'4" woman. Very nice 3 sided porch around the cottage. Again, awesome views and a great place for relaxing after a day of hiking. Hummingbird feeders attract lots of hummers and other birds too. It was spotlessly clean and a super comfortable bed. However, the place is not professionaly decorated, so if that's important to you, brace yourself. It's a real mishmash of furniture and decor, silk flowers abound. Once you get over that, it's great.
Erika and Eldon are extremely nice people and Erika's homemade muffins are killer good!
Cafe Diablo was excellent as usual and Capitol Reef gorgeous in spring.
At all the parks there were more German and French visitors than Americans! A few Brits too. It's been a long time since I've seen so many European visitors so I guess the economic conditions are having an influence.
Hope this helps with some ideas for Fodorites planning a southern Utah trip! Any quesitons, I'll try to answer.
May 17th, 2009, 11:45 AM
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Hi Myer,
My friend C is really not an athletic person, but is a flatlander who is not used to altitude or hiking. Back problems limit walking so we chose to do Delicate Arch early before it got too hot or she got too tired from seeing the rest of the park. I'm glad she made it. It took a lot of effort for her.
My friend C is really not an athletic person, but is a flatlander who is not used to altitude or hiking. Back problems limit walking so we chose to do Delicate Arch early before it got too hot or she got too tired from seeing the rest of the park. I'm glad she made it. It took a lot of effort for her.
May 17th, 2009, 11:49 AM
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Note about Canyonlands - the park has added a small campground, much nicer than the main one that is up highest. At least this one has a ocuple trees (pinon and juniper).
Also, a new walking/biking trail was just opened at Dead Horse Point State Park, and dedicated by the Governor last week (he rode the loop). You have your choice of 3 loops, 9 mi being the longest. It starts near the Visitor's center.
Also, a new walking/biking trail was just opened at Dead Horse Point State Park, and dedicated by the Governor last week (he rode the loop). You have your choice of 3 loops, 9 mi being the longest. It starts near the Visitor's center.
May 17th, 2009, 04:52 PM
#5
Sorry, I meant to ask why you went to Delicate Arch early and not Arches. I guess you knew what I meant.
I can see why she did better in the Windows section rather than Delicate Arch that's uphill all the way there.
I can see why she did better in the Windows section rather than Delicate Arch that's uphill all the way there.
May 18th, 2009, 06:53 PM
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Hi Dayle,
You are a lucky girl getting to see Capitol Reef in springtime. I wish! And I'm so glad you got to stay at Valley of the Gods - what a neat place! We got to visit during the fall monsoons and had some crazy flooding a few years back:
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/21346486
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/21362497
Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for the report. I really need a vacation....
You are a lucky girl getting to see Capitol Reef in springtime. I wish! And I'm so glad you got to stay at Valley of the Gods - what a neat place! We got to visit during the fall monsoons and had some crazy flooding a few years back:
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/21346486
http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/21362497
Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for the report. I really need a vacation....
May 19th, 2009, 05:04 PM
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Hi Sharon,
Boy, I really needed one too! Loved the Valley of the Gods B&B. Just sitting on the porch with a glass of wine enjoying that forever view!
I think you guys are in your busy season now, yes? Just remember, you really do have a standing invitation to visit.
Maybe next fall 2010, we can do a Moab Fodorites GTG. Wouldn't that be fun? I would have liked to this year, but I already have a home exchange to NC planned.
Boy, I really needed one too! Loved the Valley of the Gods B&B. Just sitting on the porch with a glass of wine enjoying that forever view!
I think you guys are in your busy season now, yes? Just remember, you really do have a standing invitation to visit.
Maybe next fall 2010, we can do a Moab Fodorites GTG. Wouldn't that be fun? I would have liked to this year, but I already have a home exchange to NC planned.
May 19th, 2009, 07:35 PM
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Hi Dayle,
I enjoyed your trip report. I definitely understand taking her to Delicate Arch first. We saved it for sunset and I was exhausted from the earlier hikes and skipped it and the family went without me. I'll definitely have to plan a trip back.
I enjoyed your trip report. I definitely understand taking her to Delicate Arch first. We saved it for sunset and I was exhausted from the earlier hikes and skipped it and the family went without me. I'll definitely have to plan a trip back.
May 20th, 2009, 09:04 AM
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Tidbit for desert hiking: The parks do not lock gates after hours. Depending on your proclivity, take a breakfast for a sunrise visit, or a roasted deli chicken and salads for a picnic and sunset visit. Often the cooler hours on either side of mid-day allow for a general fitness boost for hiking the desert. A little list of hiking ideas: Arches or Canyonlands National Parks, Fisher Towers Recreation Area, Dead Horse Point State Park, or Mill Creek and Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Areas.
Also concerning travel to Moab:
Great Lake Aviation departs daily out of the Frontier Airlines concourse in Denver, to permit a direct flight into Moab. The canyonlands field (CNY) is far enough out of Moab, that it is wise to reserve a rental car in advance to await your arrival.
Finally, the Moab Travel Council has hired an entity for Facility and Event Promotions, who can advise on conferences, ceremonies, concerts or trainings you may be interested to set up in Moab, to Mix business with pleasure.
Also concerning travel to Moab:
Great Lake Aviation departs daily out of the Frontier Airlines concourse in Denver, to permit a direct flight into Moab. The canyonlands field (CNY) is far enough out of Moab, that it is wise to reserve a rental car in advance to await your arrival.
Finally, the Moab Travel Council has hired an entity for Facility and Event Promotions, who can advise on conferences, ceremonies, concerts or trainings you may be interested to set up in Moab, to Mix business with pleasure.
