Moab, Utah. The land of WOW. She’s Wondrous. Treacherous. Laid- back. Red not green. Ancient. Raw. A gift. Off the grid. That was us…living off the grid for 2 weeks in Mill Creek Canyon at a place called "Los Vados", some 9 miles south of Moab. (Our landlords defined living off the grid as no contact with the outside world by phone, TV or radio, powered by a generator and the sun. A quick look around Moab revealed that most everyone lives off the grid to some degree or other, feeling more at home blasting through the outdoors than needing indoor creature comforts).
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| Mill Creek Canyon, the home for Los Vados and our view from the kitchen |
We arrived at our canyon home after an 18 hour trudge in the Tundra through Vegas, a blizzard, a bunch of rest stops and a final 20 minute drive down a 4 wheel drive-high clearance vehicle road...3 creek crossings, 2 gates openings, through sand and over rocks the size of a washing machine.
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| Back Door of Los Vados |
We had landed at an official escape from high speed living. From morning to night, Mill Creek carved a sprightly path past our back door. In the house, floor to ceiling windows made a showcase for Father Nature’s earthly miracles on display below the Milky Way. On the trail, the sky seemed unable to hold the enormity of the land and its endlessly mind boggling shapes and hues of terra-sometimes-not-so-firma.
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| In Arches NP...3 Wise Men or the 3 Graces ? |
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| View From Inside Granary at Aztec Bluff, Island In the Sky |
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| Eroded Red Sandstone, the predominant Moab color |
What an eye and brain popping adventure this was! We did a backpack to Peekaboo and Lost Canyon in Canyonlands National Park, a day hike through Hidden Valley searching for petroglyphs, took a bumpy 14 mile mountain bike ride past dinosaur tracks and over slickrock to the backdoor of Arches National Park, did a hot 11 miler to find Druid Arch, climbed around granaries of ancient peoples, viewed layers of the the Colorado River Gorge from Dead Horse Point ...all tangible miracles no less spectacular than the midnight starry river I can't get enough of.
Here ya go, a closer look at Moab, the greatest outdoor playground you'll ever find.
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| Dave backpacking in Canyonlands NP |
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| Little Candyce maneurvering BIG rock with BIG packpack |
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| Campsite LC3...got lost finding it, only water here looked like gasoline | | |
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| Cool little petroglyph guy on wall in Hidden Valley |
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| Landscape Arch in Arches NP...longest single span in US |
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| View off Backside of Druid Arch Hike in Canyonlands NP....It's REAL! |
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View from Dead Horse Point State Park about 30 miles from Moab
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Look very closely and you can see me, the tiny figure under Corona Arch...This arch is huge!
A climber had to be rescued off the top of the arch when his courage failed him and he got stuck. |
