Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - UT/CO Trip Report Part I

Who: Couple in their mid-forties from upstate NY
What: Trip Report
Where: S.E. Utah and S.W. Colorado
When: Sept 10th - 19th
How: Flew to SLC, drove over 1500 miles, and walked I don't know how many
Why: If you've been there, you don't have to ask.

Day 1: Arrived at SLC about 10am, got the bags, picked up the car and headed toward Moab. Stopped at the Albertson's in Price to buy snacks, stuff for lunches, water, and a Styrofoam cooler that we kept packed with ice-cold Gatorade (I don't know how many times I remarked that it was one of the smartest things we did after we'd come back to the car from hiking in 90+ temps and down a quart). Checked into La Quinta which I thought was very nice - new and clean - it comes with a great breakfast buffet with make-your-own waffles. Had dinner at Eddie McStiffs - strange name - great burritos.

Day 2: Got up early (as we did every morning - I don't think we ever changed over to mountain time so stayed on a 5 to 9 kind of schedule). Headed to Arches. Debated doing Delicate Arch right away or waiting until sunset. The reports were for heavy rains for the evening, and next day, and didn't want to risk missing it so we decided to do it while we could (As it turned out, we never saw a drop of rain for the whole trip, but it got really cloudy by evening and there was little sunset to speak of anyway). Saw some bighorn sheep by the visitor's center. Signed up for the 4pm Fiery Furnace tour before heading out to Delicate Arch, which was just incredible. Waited for a long time to get a picture without any people standing under it, but I actually liked the one I have with people because it shows just how big it is. Started walking out beyond the ridge toward the arch and got a glimpse of the hole. I know - the part you walk on is quite wide, but somehow (I think because it slants down toward the opening), I just couldn't do it. As a kid, I'd have been the first one running to the arch. I'd like to think it was our first hike and I wasn't used to the heights and the thinner air, and if we waited for another day, I could have made it under the arch, but I'm not sure. I sat down and got another picture, and my husband practically had to peel me off the rock I was hugging to walk back. Once I got over the ridge, I was fine. Had great plans after the hike to do a lot more, but between the heat, altitude, fright, and lack of sleep I was pretty wiped out, so after a little while we went back to the hotel for a rest/nap until it was time for the Fiery Furnace tour. The ranger we had was great (Steve?), but some of his stories went a little too long and I think we could have cut it by a half or whole hour without problem. The hike itself was a lot of fun. I remembered afterwards someone posting a question asking if you only had time for one, which one would you do and I think it's impossible to answer. One is an okay hike with an incredible reward at the end, and the other is just an incredible hike. Totally wiped out again we decide get something easy like pizza so we go to Zax but once inside we're not thrilled with what we see so we went back to Eddie McStiff's for a salad (very good) and a wood oven pizza (ok). Wanted to book an afternoon jeep tour to Canyonlands for the next day, but nobody was offering one past 8am.

Day 3: Went to Arches to watch the sunrise, but it turned out not to be worth the gnat bites we endured. Did enjoy watching the bats eat the gnats. Drove straight to Devil's Garden area and hiked to Landscape Arch. Drove back through the park doing the areas we missed in Day 1. One of my favorites was Double Arch in the Window Section-sitting up high enjoying the views in the cool shade of the overhang, contemplating how silly it was to have a park dedicated to a bunch of holes in rocks... and how wonderful at the same time. Did find a jeep tour for the afternoon, but decided to skip it so we could explore Canyonlands ourselves. Drove through the park - overviews were absolutely gorgeous. Hiked to Upheaval Dome and Mesa Arch. Stopped at Dead Horse on the way out. One of my favorite views was from there. It was extremely windy all afternoon and standing still at the overlooks became quite challenging. Ate dinner at Moab Brewery. Decent food - bad service.

Day 4: Took Utahtea's advice and drove to Fisher Towers as the sun was coming up. This road is just beautiful. Saw the beautiful lodges I had considered, and while the scenery was gorgeous, I was glad we stayed in town. Went back and checked out and started toward Mesa Verde.....