Moab In The Winter - Day 2
A chilly start climbing up from the Colorado River
My first day of winter hiking on my trip to Moab had been great. The next day looked to be the same or better - sunny skies with even warmer temperatures. The high was forecast to be in the mid forties.
I had my next hiking objective picked out.
West of the town of Moab, the Spanish Valley is bounded by the Moab Rim, a wall of sheer cliffs that rises eight hundred to twelve hundred feet above the town. Beyond that, invisible from the valley, is the Behind the Rocks Wilderness Study Area. Although there are trails that traverse the area, I had never hiked there. I had seen it from a distance on a previous trip when I hiked the Longbow Arch Trail on Poison Spider Mesa. Looking across the Colorado River Canyon to the Behind the Rocks area, it certainly looked intriguing, a vast maze of rock fins, sandstone domes and narrow canyons.
The town of Moab with the La Sal Mountains in the distance
There were some good reasons that I hadn't hiked it before though. First, the northern half, known as the Moab Rim Trail, is primarily for ATV's. Although hikers are allowed on the trail, sharing a hike with lots of motorized vehicles is not a pleasant experience. I had learned that on a trip to Canyonlands National Park a few years before. I ended up chokiing and completely covered in dust when I was passed by a line of all-terrain vehicles. When you can't even breathe, you barely notice the stink of the exhaust fumes. And noise. Did I mention that they are loud and obnoxious? It's not fun sharing the trail. And to be fair, ATV drivers probably consider hikers to be annoying. I'm sure they think we are always getting in the way.
But Moab was pretty deserted at this time of year. I had only seen a few other hikers on the trails that I had done the day before. I figured that the ATV population would be very light in winter as well. This seemed like a good time to try the Moab Rim.
Sandstone domes to the north of the high plateau
Another complication is that the main route though Behind the Rocks is a through trail. It starts at the Colorado River north of Moab, climbs up to the rim, meanders up and down across a broad mesa, and then descends again to a trailhead south of town. It's about seven miles from one end to the other. That's a nice length for a hike, but a bit long to walk from one end to the other and then all the way back again, especially when it means climbing out of the valley, descending back into it, and then climbing out and then down again. And hiking from one trailhead to the other through town, while easy, would be long and boring. Hiking end-to-end just wasn't an option for me as a solo hiker. My go to hiking guide for the area listed another option, an out and back hike from the north end on the Moab Rim Trail that was five miles round trip with fourteen hundred feet of elevation gain. That sounded like a pretty good objective for the day.
There's a reason it's called Tire Test Hill
I wanted to get a fairly early start to try and beat any ATV's that would be out later in the day. But I didn't want to start too early because it dropped below freezing overnight and I wanted to give it a chance to warm up a bit. Although I was up at eight I took my time and didn't leave the hotel until nine.
As I drove through town, I stopped at GearHeads, a shop that carried hiking, backpacking and climbing equipment. I wanted to get rubber tips for my hiking poles. I hadn't used my poles the day before and they would have been very handy with all the stream crossings in Grandstaff Canyon. I wanted to have them for the hike today because of the elevation gain (and more importantly, loss on the way back) to make it easier on my knees. On slick rock though the metal tips leave scratch marks on the rock. Besides the conservation aspect, it makes a sound like nails on a blackboard. I didn't know if it would be easy to find or not but when I stepped into the store the first thing I saw, right by the door, was a display of hiking poles. And there, right in the middle of the display, were spare rubber tips. What I expected to be a long, hard search to find what I wanted ended up taking less than thirty seconds. It looked like it was going to be a good day. If I believed in omens I would have immediately gone out and bought a lottery ticket.
Distant view to Dead Horse Point and Island in the Sky
From town it only took ten minutes to drive Kane Creek Road along the south side of the Colorado River to the Moab Rim Trailhead. The parking lot was empty - a good sign. I grabbed my pack and was on the trail at 9:45.
It wasn't your typical hiking trail. I hiked up a gradually rising series of sandstone ledges to climb up out of the Colorado River Canyon. The route was easy to follow, marked by white paint stripes, tire marks and oil stains. While steep enough to be a good workout while hiking, it would definitely be difficult in a vehicle. And every so often there was a sheer step of six, twelve or even eighteen inches. Again, easy enough to step up while hiking, but very tough in a vehicle. I could certainly see how this route would be a real challenge to ascend in a vehicle. I just couldn't see how it would be fun. Obviously some people enjoy it though, enough to spend $20K or more on an appropriate vehicle.
The route continued to distant Petro Pass on the far right
I was definitely enjoying it as a hike though. Walking on the slick rock was fun. The climb was steady but reasonable. The view of the Colorado River Canyon was impressive and improved as I got higher. And it was a beautiful sunny morning. I will admit that it was chilly though. I had on all of my warm clothes: pile vest, GoreTex shell, winter hat and gloves and a neck gaitor. Still, even though I was working hard, I was cold. After about forty five minutes I had climbed far enough out of the canyon to come into the sun. That helped a lot and by the time I topped out on the initial climb fifteen minutes later, I had warmed up and was really enjoying the hike. A little further and I came to the edge of the Moab Rim and could look out over the Spanish Valley and Moab. Far in the east were the La Sal Mountains. To the Northeast were the rock formations of Arches National Park. It was an impressive view and the chills of a few minutes ago were completely forgotten.
The route followed mostly slickrock with a few sand patches
Now the trail was a track in the sand, and it followed the crest of the rim for a while. Eventually it turned away, passing between two huge sandstone formations and descending onto the high mesa of Behind the Rocks. As always, it was tough to give up elevation that I had just gained, especially knowing that I would have to climb up again on the way back. But as I continuted the views to the west opened up and I could see the Island of the Sky region of Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park in the far distance. In the middle distance was a complex labyrinth of sandstone fins and narrow canyons that no trails penetrated. Eventually the sandy trail came to the base of a steep sandstone dome - and went straight up it. A sign announced that this was Tire Test Hill, and I could see that the name was certainly apt. Even on foot it took some real faith in friction to walk up the steep sandstone, but I made it to the top.
Almost down and I encounter my only ATV
The view was magnificent. I could see the route continuing past impressive sandstone formations, eventually rising to Petro Pass where it dropped out of sight into Hidden Valley. This was the turn around point suggested in the guidebook so I took their advice and headed for home.
On the way back I met a hiker on the his way out. We stopped and chatted. He was the only person I had seen all day. Remarkable for a popular trail. Even better, I hadn't seen any motorized traffic. That changed when I was almost down. Five minutes from the trailhead I encountered a side by side coming up the trail. The guy stopped to ask me about the trail, whether it was two-way or not, where it went. I thought it was funny that he was asking a hiker what the rules were for ATV's but I had read up so I told him. Then it was down to the parking lot. As I got there, two hikers were just leaving. So I guess I had seen a total of five people during the day, but all but one at the very end. I had been needlessly worried that I would be fighting motorized traffic all day.
Back of Beyond Books - a cool bookstore in Moab
It was still early afternoon so I took a swing through town. I went to my favorite bookstore, Back of Beyond Books. Whenever I am in Moab I stop there and buy something. They have a lot of interesting regional books and this time I got "Behind the Bears Ears" by R. E. Burillo. I also bought a Back of Beyond Books cap. After the bookstore I did some tshirt shopping, although only about half the stores in town were open. The rest were closed for the season.
It was still just mid afternoon so I drove to Arches National Park. I've done the hike to Delicate Arch more times than I can count but can always do it again. I got to the parking lot and it was only about a quarter full. That's remarkable, as getting a parking spot is usually a major problem. I did the hike up to the arch, wondering if snow or ice would be a problem. Almost, but not quite. There was some ice on the narrow ramp just before the viewpoint, but it was possible to avoid almost all of it. When I reached the arch, there were only four other people there. Usually there are more like a hundred. The late afternoon light was perfect too and I got great photographs. The most remarkable thing was that my pictures of the arch did not have any people in it. Usually there is a long queue of people to get their pictures taken standing under the arch. This was the first time that I got a picture with no people in it.
Delicate arch and no people - Edward Abbey would approve
Yup. Winter is definitely the time to come to Moab. Even more so now because this year they are starting a permit system at Arches National Park. Starting in April, you can't enter the park unless you have a reservation. That's a shame, but in recent years the line of cars to get into the park during spring and fall has been ridiculous. I'm not sure the Park Service had any choice.
After hiking down, I went to Subway for a sandwhich and ate in my hotel room again. I had a good nights sleep and next day started home. I stopped off in Ogden to visit my friends, Ivan and Norma. It was the first time I had been to their house in Ogden - it was very nice. We had Rita's Pizza for dinner, which was very good. Ivan and I worked in his lab, not sure what else to call it - it was quite a setup. We tried to see if we could recover data from the drives in my Blackbird but did not have any luck. I took the Blackbird back home with me to continue to work on reviving it. That's a story for another post though.
