Root Family

Root Family

Feb 13, 2012

Moab/Canyonlands/Arches Feburary 2012

It was time to get away from the daily hustle and head down to Moab where it was 5-10 degrees warmer and a whole lot sunnier. Our plan was to head down early Saturday morning but I got really sick the day before and was hoping I'd sleep it off, but to my dismay, I was not able to get up early Saturday, so we didn't leave our house until 10am. Bill and April had left earlier, but due to some bad luck with Bill's sister's truck (flat tire) we only ended up an hour behind them.

This would be our first long trip with our newborn Waylon (4 months) and his first hikes. The drive down was not too bad. We had to stop a few times for some feedings, but for the most part he was a pretty good traveler.

On our way down we headed immediately to Canyonlands NP at Island in the Sky and drove to the trailhead for the somewhat secretive "False Kiva" trail. Bill gave me great directions over the phone on how to find it and said they would be hanging out there. We immediately headed out on the trail.

False Kiva trail

False Kiva trail

We ran into Bill and April as we came close to the approach. They were going to move on and see Upheaval dome and meet us at Mesa Arch while we checked out False Kiva.

Sunburst along the trail

False Kiva trail sunburst

Caiden taking a mini-break

False Kiva trail

False Kiva

False Kiva

Tyler at False Kiva

At False Kiva there was an Englishman hanging out there waiting for the perfect picture. He said he had been there 39 times trying to find the right one. He was an awesome guy and I REALLY wished I had gotten his name/photo site. He spends about 6 months at a time in the states taking pictures, then working the other 6 months on a yatch. After hanging out about 20 minutes or so, we headed back to meet up with everyone else.

Alene and Waylon

Alene & Waylon on False Kiva trail

Me and Caiden

Caiden & Tyler on False Kiva trail

View near False Kiva

Selfie along the trail

Almost sunset leaving False Kiva trail

After False Kiva we drove over to Mesa Arch. It was my first time there and it made me VERY nervous with the young kids around. I could not believe how much of a sheer drop it was below the arch. The Arch itself was amazing how it shot right out of the cliff.

Mesa Arch sunset

Picture of the canyon below from on top of Mesa Arch

View from Mesa Arch

After that we booked it over to the Green River viewpoint to catch some sunset. I loved seeing the white rim trail below and thought about how fun it would be to bike that someday (a guy can dream)

Sunset

Green River viewpoint sunset

Sunset with a different lens

Green River viewpoint sunset

After that it got really dark and we headed to our Hotel in Moab for the night.

The next morning Bill, Mark (along with his girlfriend Britnee), and I got up really early and drove back to Island in the Sky to catch the sunrise at Mesa Arch. It was a dud, but we had a lot of fun. Our Englishman friend was sleeping at the trailhead and hiked along with us to set up for pictures. We had a good time just chatting.

Waiting for sunrise

Mesa Arch - Waiting for sunrise

Non-sunrise. View was still spectacular as usual

Mesa Arch (non) sunrise

We then headed back to the hotel to get the rest of our families and headed over to Arches. Weather was looking a bit sketchy, so we headed over to Devils Garden hoping the area would shield us a bit from the wind.

Landscape Arch

Landscape Arch

Hanging out at Navajo Arch for a break

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Navajo Arch

Navajo Arch

I carried li'l Waylon back to the car while he slept

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Little sleeper

Sleeping Waylon

After grabbing some lunch, we dropped Alene and April off in the campground and let them do the short hike through broken arch over to Sand Dune arch to meet us with the kids. We let the kids hang out and play, but it became very windy, so we headed back to the cars to wait.

Waylon

Waylon at Sand Dune arch

Kids

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Kids at Sand Dune arch

After the mom's arrived it started to pour rain, so we headed back to the hotel for a bit. Once it let up Bill, his sister Whitney, and I headed back up to Arches looking for a sunset. It lasted all of about 15 seconds. I can't really decide which picture I liked best, so I'm posting two of each.

View from the Windows

Arches Sunset

Arches sunset

View from the Windows with Turret Arch

Turret Arch sunset

Turret Arch sunset

We headed back to the hotel, got cleaned up and our family headed to the Moab Brewery. I had a mountain full of nachos that I barely made a dent in and the family returned stuffed.

The next morning we headed up the Potash road over to the Corona Arch trailhead to do that hike.

Heading up the trail

Corona Arch trail

The view from the top of the trail before you hit the train tracks (looking back at the Colorado River)

Corona Arch trail

The train track crossing

Corona Arch trail

Kids on the trail

Corona Arch trail

Getting closer (you can see Corona arch)

Corona arch

Climbing up the ladder (this was Bailey's favorite part and she demanded no help)

Corona Arch trail

Bowtie arch (literally right next to Corona Arch)

Bowtie Arch

Corona Arch - This arch was MASSIVE

Corona Arch

Coming back down the trail

Corona Arch trail

Mommies with the babies

Corona Arch trail

Corona arch was actually a lot of fun. Very scenic and short and something I'd definitely come back to see.

It was really nice to get away and be in an environment we all love. We can't wait to do it again.

4 comments:

Jeffrey Root said...

Looks like an awesome trip. I don't think our family would get out much without you. I'm still thinking about doing something in mid March during my spring break. You don't think it's too cold to camp down there at that time of year do you? We may just sleep in our car considering we can make a bed out of the seats but we are also thinking about inviting some friends down there to go camping too. I still have yet to do Arches. I know that sounds pretty dumb since I go camping down South every year.

Jen B. said...

Fun little trip you guys did! Sorry the weather didn't pan out the way you had hoped for. False Kiva is a fun little hike. My friend and I took our oldest daughters out there last year and we really enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We love Corona as well, Happy that Waylon did a great job for you guys.

Tyler Root said...

Jeff - you need to get down there to the Moab area. For a person with no kids, it's totally doable on a weekend (leave Friday afternoon, come back Sunday afternoon). People were already camping in some areas (lower elevation areas) along the Colorado River, or, like you said your Element is made for camping in, so take that.

If I were you I'd get down there every weekend if I could until I saw all the "highlights". Go do Arches one day and you can hike the Devils Garden loop (7 miles), then head over to see a few arches right off the road (sand dune arch, broken arch), then head over and see the famous "delicate arch" (3 miles round trip). The windows area is literally right at the parking lot, so you could explore around there an hour or so and see everything. There are obviously a lot of arch hikes off the map, but that would take some research to plan those out.

Canyonlands is pretty cool too. You went there with us, but the Needles section. Island in the Sky is north of Moab (whereas Needles is South). Like all National Parks, most of the things to see are right off the road, but it's still cool. You could do that on another weekend as well.

We're thinking of going camping somewhere in March. If this winter stays as mild as it has, the weather will be just fine somewhere down there in March for sure. I'll have to let you know when we're planning so maybe we can get together.

Tyler Root said...

Jen - The weather wasn't that bad at all actually. I guess I sound a bit whiny when I talk about weather, but it just rained for about an hour, then cleared up. Other than that it was perfect.