When Daniel and I were newlyweds, we didn't have a lot of money. Actually we were quite poor. He was still in school and I was working at a family-owned print shop making only $7 an hour (even with my college degree).
Since we didn't have any extra money, and had decided to get married just before Christmas, we asked family for backpacking gear that year.
And while we both loved hiking and backpacking before we were married (it could be said that the outdoors brought us together), those early years of our marriage had us using that Christmas gear nearly every weekend exploring the East Tennessee woods. It was one of the best parts of our early years together.
During that time, we also had a subscription to Backpacker (and later also Outsider) magazine. It was always exciting to get the next month's issue of Backpacker. We would both pore over it and discuss the places we wanted to go someday (we still have all of those magazines for the kids!).
One of the places that immediately caught my eye was Moab. It was a mecca for mountain bikers and a gateway to hiking in the desert. Daniel still hadn't introduced me to mountain biking (he finally did that when we moved to Charlotte, NC), but I was inspired by the pictures and the articles I read. I knew someday that we would mountain bike in Moab.
Fast forward 16 years and two kids later and our month-long trip out west finally made those visions come true. On Leaving Mesa Verde, Colorado we made the decision to head to Moab instead of south to Zion to spend several days in this little desert town.
I was bummed about losing the Zion portion of our trip, but I knew Moab was a place we both really wanted to go. And truth be told, our 15th year of marriage was a tough one, and taking the opportunity to realize our mutual dreams through this trip was good for the soul of our marriage.
Crossing out of the mountains of Colorado and into the deserts of Utah was breathtaking. Everywhere we looked there were new sights to be seen. New formations. New outcroppings of rocks. Just outside of Moab, we came across Wilson Arch. We didn't know it was Wilson Arch at the time, we just saw this amazing arch and knew we had to stop.
Isaac was asleep so the rest of us hopped out to take a look. Jack wanted to explore more and Daniel graciously opted to stay behind with a sleeping Isaac and Sophie while Jack and I set off to see how close we could get.
As we neared the arch, the terrain was quite steep. The rock was slick and I wasn't sure that we would make it. But Jack was determined. So up we climbed, right into the arch with a long drop-off right behind us.
It was wonderful to sit in that windy arch with my first born. I'm so glad we took the chance to climb all the way up, even it doing it with a 6-year-old in tow felt out of my comfort zone. Jack always amazes me with his willingness to try hard things.
We made it back to the truck, breathless and amazed, excitedly recounting our adventure to Daniel (he hadn't realized we were going to climb all the way up). I have found that the adventures that you don't intend to take are sometimes the best, I'm just sad that Daniel and Isaac missed out on this one.
After that unexpected hike, we headed on into Moab. We didn't have any camping reservations and were banking on it being the middle of the week in September. We wanted to camp at the Sand Flats Recreation Area our first night, but we really had no idea what to expect and actually arrived after the ranger kiosk was closed. We paid our fee for the night and drove up a steep hill to reach the flats. The map we picked up said there were endless camping spots and Daniel thought we should drive as far in as possible before we decided.
The Sand Flats were deserted that Tuesday night, and we were amazed at the choices of places to camp.
I was the one driving this portion, and had my first experience of off roading with the camper as the paved road gave way to gravel and then dirt. As we pressed on, I was a bit unsure of my driving capabilities, especially as we came to a single lane section that passed between two rock walls. The camper and truck only had a foot or so on either side. Daniel talked me through and I was thankful no one was driving toward us in the opposite direction. See the 5:40 minute mark on the video at the end to see how narrow this section of road was.
As dusk started to settle around us, we went ahead and picked a deserted spot on a rocky outcropping. We could see the mountains to our east, the town of Moab to our west, and 360 degree views all around. We were in awe.
The Sand Flats would be our first boondocking experience since Wallydocking at a Walmart in Oklahoma. We hooked up the generator, but only to charge our computers and phones. It was cool enough not to need a/c.
The night sky was mesmerizing. We ate dinner then watched the stars come out. As we sat and watched what appeared to be a lunar eclipse, Isaac told us all of his fears about monsters. I guess being so far from anything had him a little rattled.
Utah Road Trip Diaries: Day 6 cont (video in last post). The drive into Moab was pretty amazing. Lots of red canyons and crazy formations. We stopped at a view point and realized we could climb up to Wilson Arch. Which Jack and I did and it was amazing. Pressing in to Moab we made our way to our campground in Sand Flats Recreation Area. Per the name, I thought it would be flat. Instead I drove the camper up some winding roads into an unearthly landscape that felt more like Mars. The pavement gave way to a gravel road and we pressed on. We drove between two rock walls with about a foot to spare on each side of the camper. My driving skills continue to improve with each place we stop! Our campsite has 360 degree views for miles and we are the only people here. The stars are beyond comprehension. After dinner we sat and enjoyed the night sky and Isaac told us all his fears of monsters. This trip continues to get better and better.
The next day we were up early. During the night another camper had parked a few spots from us. The Sand Flats were basically empty so I'm not sure why they felt the need to be so close.
We were supposed to leave our campsite by noon, and we really wanted to mountain bike, so we quickly packed up everything and drove down to the West Rim of the Porcupine Trail – we didn't know it but this is a pretty gnarly trail that went all the way down to Moab if one was so inclined.
We had the kids with us, so we knew our ride would be short. We ended up doing about a mile with Isaac in tow in his bike trailer. There were some pretty big rocks to navigate on this trail and Jack did a really good job of hanging with us.
The Porcupine Trail follows a canyon so we had drop offs on our left, but the trail was nice a wide. We didn't do a long ride, we were concerned about the desert heat and didn't want to push it with kids in tow. But we did it. We can say that we officially mountain biked in Moab –– which means I was able to mark #73 off my bucket list.
Also, I know we will be back some day. Our kids will get bigger and we will do longer sections of Single Track with them. We want to come back and do Slick Rock. And there is also the matter of dirt bikes. I have no doubt we will be back to ride in the desert when our boys are bigger.
Utah Road Trip Diaries: Day 7 We mountain
biked on the Porcupine Trail from the Sand Flats. This was the day
Daniel spent the afternoon fixing our black and gray water valve (more on this in the next post).
Watch for my next blog post about our struggle to find a camping spot for our next night in Moab, and our visit Arches National Park.
Trip Stats
Camping Locations: Pickwick Landing State Park in Tenn., Gore Landing City Park in Okla., Wallydocking in Guymon, OK, Family Base Camp in Alamosa, Colo., Mesa Verde RV Resort in Mancos, Colo., Sand Flats Recreation Area outside of Moab, Utah
States Covered: TN > GA > AL > MS > TN > MS > TN > AR > OK > NM > CO > UT
Significant Stops: Black Mesa in OK (highest point), Mesa Verde National Park in CO, Wilson Arch in UT, Sand Flats Recreation Area and the West Rim of the Porcupine Trail in UT
Daily Miles Traveled: 227 miles ⎮ 445 miles ⎮ 403 miles ⎮ 325 miles ⎮ 191 miles ⎮ 125 miles
TOTAL Miles Traveled: 1,716 miles
Days on the Road: 7
Previous Trip Posts:
Utah or Bust: Mesa Verde
Leaving the Sand Flats Area. We would learn in the coming days that we should have probably staked out our campsite for the rest of our time in Moab. Lesson learned for the future...
Leaving the Sand Flats Area. We would learn in the coming days that we should have probably staked out our campsite for the rest of our time in Moab. Lesson learned for the future...
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