Moab November 2025

 Sunday Noverber 9, 2025 Day 1 Travel Day

We left home for Moab about 11:00 am after targeting a departure at 10. Not too bad.

The car battery was charged to about 75% so we stopped at the Spanish Fork Walmart to fill up the battery. Unfortunately we got a weak, for a 350 KwH charger, so it took longer, about 5 minutes, than usual. As planned we stopped in Helper, about 2 hours from SLC. 

This is a former coal town that was so named because the locamotives that pulled the coal trains over the mountains were stationed there. It almost became a ghost town when the coal industry left town. It has been reborn as a artist colony which invariably attracts tourists. It has a well preserved old downtown with lots of galleries, antique shops and some restaurants and hotels. We walked up and down the Main street stopping into some shops and had some interesting conversations with the merchants. However it being Sunday and beyond the tourist season virtually all the restaurants were closed, so we passed on a meal, Helper's loss and Green River's gain. But we saw the Big John statute.We also just missed a festival that took place the prior two days.

After about an hour we got back on Route 6 and pulled into Green River about 5. After another car charging we ate dinner at Tamarisk Restaurant on the bank of the Green River. We had previously eaten there and again were presented with generous portions at reasonable prices, although higher that during our 2023 visit.

After crossing the bridge over the Colorado River on the outskirts of Moab I passed a Highway Patrol car on the side of the road. I pulled over a little bit when passing the car but not far enough or slow enough for the patrolman so he pulled me over and gave me a safety lecture, but let me off with a warning.  

We checked into the Worldmark Wyndham. This is a new and very nice facility. We got a nice two bedroom suite along with a cheese plate.

Monday November 10, 2025 Day 2 Canyonlands Needles District

Canyonlands National Park has been created over millions of years by water and wind. The Green and Colorado Rivers separate the Park into four districts which are contigious, but are not connected by roads or bridges. The Island district attracts 70% of the visitorrs, the Needles district attracts about 27% while the Maze and River districts attract about 1.5 % each The river district comprises the Green and Colorado rivers. The Needles district is in the south and has lots of spiresand red rocks. The Island district is a plateau with accessible roads that offer great scenic views.The Maze district to the west has no paved roads, is very inaccessible and is one of the most remote and inaccessible areas in the continential US. The park area attracted the attention of Interior Department officials when Secretary Udall and the superintendent of Arches National Monument flew over the area and began a 4 year battle to establish the area as a National Park. That finally occurred in 1964.

After wasting away most of the morning I got into the car and took off south along route 191 for the Needles section of Canyonlands NP. Needles is the southern section of the Park separated by the Colorado River. Lots of colorful, sandstone spires inspired the name of this district. It was about 65 miles away and with 175 miles on the car I felt I had enough battery. Not correct. I had to drive about 40 miles south on Route 191. I made a mistake by turning into the entrance for the Rim Views rather than the Park entrance so I wasted about 10 miles before I realized my mistake. As I turned onto the road, route 211, to take me to the Park entrance I realized that I probably might not have enough battery range to get to the Park entrance, 24 miles away and back to Moab. I initially stopped at the Newspaper Rock, a collection of well preserved petrographs which is actually on BLM land in Bears Ears National Monument, not in the Park. 

Continuing on a winding scenic road I stopped at Donnelly Canyon. There were lots of campers in the small parking lot. I walked into the canyon trying to follow a poorly marked trail. Some of the trail traversed deep, but very fine sand. There were towering mesas on both sides. I herad voices and looked around but saw no one. I finally spotted a woman climbing a sheer cliff who was communicated with her collegues. The sounds bounced around the canyon. When I got to the point on the trail where it started to climb, I turned around. I was warm where the sun was shining and at times I was sweating, but it was beginning to get very cool in the shade. 

I left the canyon about 3:30 after walking for about 4.5 miles in the canyon, but never having reached the Park. I drove back at a more moderate pace and reached the hotel with about 65 miles in the battery so my concerns were misplaced.   I charged the car at the RMP EA charging station just outside of town in a park on the banks of the Colorado River. Again less than ideal charging speed. I then picked up my spouse at the hotel and we shopped for food for the week at the local City Market. We cooked dinner in the hotel.

Tuesday November 11, 2025 Day 3 Canyonlands NP, Island in the Sky District

The "island" district is really a large mesa. It is the most accessible area of the Park. Late in the morning we got out for the drive to the the Island in the Sky district. It was about a 30 miles drive to the Visitor Center. The entrance station was not manned, but the Visitor Center was staffed with several rangers. They said that they were receiving partial pay from Utah sources. The Islands district is a mesa high above the Green and Colorado Rives which come to a confluence at the southern end of this district. The mesa is accessed via a narrow land bridge just wide enough for a road known as "the Neck". 

We took off on the single 12 mile winding road leading to the end of the mesa and the White Rim Overlook. From there we could view the Colorado River, the La Sal mountains to the east, Monument Valley to the south and dirt road way below that was created to support uranium mining in the area in the 1950s. 

We took off east on the Grand View Point trail which promised spectular views as the trail followed the canyon rim. It didn't disappoint, but although it was labeled as an easy trail midway my spouse turned back due to the assents on the slickrock. I proceeded to

the end to the Overlook. The trail was not well defined, but it was pretty well marked with carons, although I briefly lost the trail on the way back. It was a 2 mile round trip. 

On the drive back we stopped at some overlooks and took some sunset pictures. We again cooked and ate dinner at the hotel.

 I swam in the hotel's infinity pool and then immerced myself in the Hot tub. I conversered with a guest who had made an 11 hour drive to Moab from northeastern Oregon.

Wednesday November 12, 2025 Day 4 Arches NP

Again by myself I set off in the late morning for Arches NP. The entrance booth was unmanned but the Visitoirs Center was open and staffed. I picked up some maps and watched a park film. 

In Arches Mother Nature has been hard at work creating rock formations that splash acres of red rock, sandstone arches under Utah's bright blue sky. It has more natural stone arches than any place on Earth, over 2000, ranging from the 306 ft Lanscape Arch which I plan to see this trip to the iconic Delecate Arch which I have previously visited. The latter is so iconic that it is emblazoned on Utah's license plates.

Arches is a relatively small national park in size, but is one of the mose heavily visited. It's popularity and limited parking has resulted in the imposition of a timed entry system for most of the year. It was designated as a National Monument in 1929 through the efforts of a railroad photgrapher seeking to increse tourist traffic on the railroad. The Monument was origionally two small noncontigious sections but was connected and expanded in size by several Presidents. However when it was upgraded to a national park in 1971 its size was reduced. The unusual rock and arch formations are the result of a geological history which had several layers of sandstone over a salt bed. The pressure on the salt caused it to liquify uplifting section so the sandstone which when exposed to water, wind and  weather caused the rocks to fissure, crack and break apart leaving huge free standing structures called fins. Some of these deveopled into arches as the weaker rock washed away.   

I have been to the Delicate Arch and some of the other more famous and accessible arches, so I decided to go to the areas of the Park I had not previously visited. I set out to drive the full length of the park road, stopping occasionally at pull overs. My initial stop was at the Courhouse Towers Viewpoint. Lots of large steep rock cliffs, but nothing that looked to me like a courthouse.  However the Tower of Babel was striking. 

The next stop was at the Balanced Rock. It was an easy walk around the base of the rock which appears to be readly to fall off its perch at the slighest rumble. It is a 3600 ton boulder that appears to be as big as a navel destroyer and sits precariously atop a spindly pedestal. A few more miles and I reached the end of the road where I parked at Devils Garden. This area has the only campground in Arches. 

The beginning of the trail is easy and a trail to the right leads to the Tunnel Arch. This is high up and would be difficult to approach. Continuing on leads to the Pine Tree Arch. Not a pine tree in sight, but it was named for a pinon prine which once grew inside the arch. Just past the arch was a sign that said "trail ends". Some people walked right by it onto and crushed the delicate, biological sand crust which prevents erosion, helps absorb what little water falls and provides nutriants for plants.

I then returned to the main trail and proceeded to the very large Landscape Arch which is over 300 feet. I continued on but the trail not only quickly narrowed, but became more rugged, steep and rocky. I gave up and turned around.

On the ride back I stopped at the Park Ave Trail and walked out to the Over look and took some pictures.

We ate dinner at Dewey Restaurant in Moab. Dewey is one of three types of rock formations in Arches.

Thursday November 13, 2025 Day 5 Arches NP

Walked the Park Ave trail. This is near the beginning of the Park road, but it is a moderately difficult, primative trail which is an unpaved dry wash. It involved walking over slick rock and deep sand. In many places it has a skyline of huge rock cliffs lining the trail making appear as if you are walking in a canyon. Toward the end of the trail is a cluster of sandstone towers forming the Three Gossips.

I got a good look at the Queen Nefertili rock.

After I returned to the hotel in the late afternoon I swam and we sat in the hot tub. We cooked the fish for dinner.

Friday November 14, 2025 Day 6 Pando

We ate an early breakfast at the resort's restaurant using the free tickets given to us. It was a pretty good buffet with lot sof uncut fresh fruit. We left about 9:15 becasue we were going out of our way to experience Pando. But first we drove west on I-70 and stopped at the San Rafael Reef. This is a 30 mile  towering standstone wall at the eastern edge of nowhere. For a very long time the only way through this obstacle was through narrow slot canyons which lead to the San Rafeal Swell. The Swell is a large geograpic feature consisting of a dome shaped anticline that was formed by the uplifting of rock about 50 million yrars ago. The Reef is the eastern edge of it. It took $4.5 million to make the initial two lane cut through the Reef and Swell for I-70 and the additional two lanes were not finished until the mid 1980s. The drive and pull overs revealed a wild and spectualar landscape.

I missed my intended stopping point to charge the car and instead ended up in Salina where we charged at a Love's Track stop. We the drove south on route 24 into a vast and largely empty landscape whose vastness made me feel insignificant. The 30 mile drive took us up almost 2000 feet past sagebrush covered land punctuated by a few homes, ranches and occasionally cattle. We also passed a reseviour which seemed to be well below its high levels. We turned on to route 25 which after a short but steep drive took us to the Pando quacking aspen clone. (Latin for "I spread") 

This is the world's largest living organism. It is a 104 acre aspen grove which has grown from a single seed and now has over 47,000 trunks and weighs over 13 million tons. It seems to be showing signs of degeneration apparently as a result of overgrazing and disease. While fencing is attempting to keep the animals out, it doesn't help that people feel a need to carve into the bark of the trees. It is located on the bank of Fishlake. 

Retracing our drive north on route 24 and the on route 50 to its intersection with I-15 at Sicpio wherewe charged the car at truck stop. We arrived home about 6.