Red sandstone arches and spires. The entrance to Arches National Park is still impressive.

Tower Arch

It has only been a couple years since we have been here so we remember a bit too much to make it all very exciting. We found a trail that we did not hike last time, the Tower Arch Trail. That is the arch that made Arches National Park happen. We came across a prairie dog colony on our way there. I love ‘em. Then, off to new adventures.

Marching Men with snow covered mountains

The BluPig restaurant has passable BBQ and Ye Ole Geezer Meat Shop makes delicious mesquite beef jerky…they had some great looking steaks too.  Red Rock Bakery makes pretty awesome scones and cinnamon rolls!

The Colorado River is running pretty full. It is muddy from snow melt off the bare canyons so rapids rafting when you are likely to get wet doesn’t sound like all that much fun to me. Anyway, lows have been in the 30s and highs the 50s and 60s. Next time we are in the area maybe we will try for a site in one of the BLM campgrounds along the river. It would be a great sight to wake up to.

There is Ancient Rock Art everywhere here. It is almost like graffiti in modern day cities. Still very cool though.

Our dive through the La Sal National Forest was a bit early for the season. There is still a lot of snow so many trails are snow packed in the higher passes. We enjoyed the views though. We came down through Castle Valley. It has been location for lots of old movies, even a few I recognize, Indiana Jones Last Crusade, a MacGyver Episode, and City Slickers. It is pretty dramatic terrain.

Jeep off-roading is THE thing around here. Trail bike riding seems to be getting popular too. Surprisingly, they also make (fair) wine. They claim that grapes are grown within a 90 mile radius of here. Humm. I will have to research to see where that might be. We tasted at Castle Creek Winery and found a bottle we could enjoy.

We are hoping the winds die down a bit for tomorrow.

Climber top of spire

It has been blustery the whole time so far and has kept us inside more than we would like. Rock climbers don’t seem to mind. We saw a couple of them balancing atop high spires today in 40+ mph gusts. Crazy.