Traveltalkonline.com Forums


TTOL Sponsors
Forum Statistics
Forums39
Topics38,431
Posts310,076
Members26,538
Most Online2,218
Jan 21st, 2020
Top Posters(30 Days)
RonDon 115
pat 42
Todd 40
jazzgal 40
Member Spotlight
Aries4
Aries4
Morrisville, PA/West End, Tortola
Posts: 437
Joined: July 2006
Show All Member Profiles 
Today's Birthdays
ecco, OceanDrop, vincent
Who's Online Now
36 registered members (blooming, CJIMI, Donaegada, Fletch, Zanshin, cabokid, OceanSong, bailau, caribbeangirl13, timnboston, RickG, Fran, eightzerobits, Bernd, kaba, SURICK, Michel_Benarrosh, Kennys, tradewinds, JeanneB, steve74, SacoFrank, SXMScubaman, RonDon, 12 invisible), 973 guests, and 66 spiders.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
UTAH! Part 4 #98394
05/25/2016 08:55 AM
05/25/2016 08:55 AM
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,493
VIRGINIA
B
BEERMAN Offline OP
Traveler
BEERMAN  Offline OP
Traveler
B
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,493
VIRGINIA
UTAH Part 4, May 14-21

We woke up early and well rested at the Red Cliffs Lodge. The sun was just starting to lighten up the sky, but unfortunately there was a steady rain coming down on this Tuesday morning. The covered porches both in front and on the back patio were nice to have. The fresh rain and cool morning air made the peaceful ranch smell amazing. Like most 21 year olds our daughter likes her sleep, but she also wants to watch the sun rise with us.... we let her sleep in a little while longer. I made a cup of coffee and sat on the porch wondering if the rain would let up. Our plan this morning is to visit the Arches National Park.

[Linked Image]


My wife and I put on our raincoats and walked over to the main lodge to look around. One of the nice ladies at the front desk said it didn't rain at her house on the other end of Moab, so maybe there was a chance this seemingly persistent rain would end. I grabbed a hot cup of joe for my daughter and we returned to the room around 7am, rise and shine sweetie! We packed up our gear and made the 20 minute drive to the town of Moab. We found a nice coffee shop for another refill and a bagel sandwich.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


Just outside of town and across the Colorado River we found the entrance to the park. We saw the hotels in town that were 1 minute from the park and said that would have been convenient, but we were so thankful we chose the ranch!! With the annual parks pass we quickly made it in and started our scenic drive. By now the rain had ended and the sun was trying to coax the clouds away. The park is amazing from the minute you head up the paved mountain road. After winding up the switchbacks we reached the crest of the mountain, "BOOM, there it is!" What an incredible sight to see! Everywhere you looked were enormous red rock features, Arches and distant views that blew us away. We only had a couple of hours to spend here so we drove in as far as time would allow and started our rock scrambling. It was turning out to be a beautifully warm blue sky day!

[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7509_zpsnfji4l8w.jpg[/img]


We hated to leave this wonderful park, but our rafting trip was scheduled at 2:30 and we wanted to hang at the ranch for a little while in between. Once back at the ranch my wife decided to run the roads, our daughter hit the computer to actually work on her internship project and I grabbed the camera looking for inspiration. If I said it once I'll say it again, there are photo-ops around every turn in Utah.

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7569_zpssphm2c1l.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7652_zpsv11omm4n.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7598_zpspnudfts7.jpg[/img]


The Adrift Rafting Company picked us up right at the lodge, nice! Once in the van we waited a few minutes for a second group of people to arrive, but they were no shows. The owner/driver of the company said he bet the other group was scared away by the morning rain. If so, it was their loss because the afternoon weather was outstanding! Less than 10 miles up the river we met our friendly guide Molly, great young lady who was taking some well earned time off before heading to grad school. We expected to hop in a smaller type raft straddling the pontoon with oars in hand, but noooo, Molly would be doing all of the rowing for us in a larger river raft, nice! She respectfully distributed the weight and placed me on the stern, ha! She was very knowledgeable of the area and better yet very skilled with the raft. We really had a relaxing raft trip. The part of the Colorado River we were on was class III, so there were only a few moderate rapid areas that were a blast! We covered half our distance and pulled ashore to a sandy beach for lunch, which they provided. We had 3 other fun guides floating with us in smaller one man rafts and they helped Molly set up a table to lay out a nice lunch of fresh cold cuts and salads. We felt very spoiled since the other group were no shows. After lunch and stacking stones we continued on our journey floating through tight cuts surrounded by the towering red canyon walls, very cool!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...2-4fc4-af4e-12584148658f_zpsrc1dyy2s.png[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...AH%20Part%204/RAFTING202_zpsewt6j1yr.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...4-4404-9d64-44aacc441ee7_zpsmb3q6ay6.png[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...AH%20Part%204/RAFTING203_zpsj7fharih.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...AH%20Part%204/RAFTING207_zpsbbjvz550.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...AH%20Part%204/RAFTING204_zpscfgsmpj4.jpg[/img]


At the end of our amazing 2-1/2 hour trip we didn't have to lift a finger, the guides loaded up the gear and drove us straight back to the lodge, PERFECT! The owner of Adrift said he had a restaurant in town called the Broken Oar, so we planned to have dinner there. It was still fairly early so we cleaned up and drove around a bit, actually as far as the base of snow capped La Sal National Forest!

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7608_zpsrqmklw5m.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7620_zps53bkpjpx.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7625_zpsun618bw2.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7628_zpsqyqkcjhl.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7638_zpstnstd8lw.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7646_zpswucj8tsr.jpg[/img]

La Sal was almost an hour in the opposite direction of Moab, especially with having to slow for free ranging livestock! We made it back to Moab just in time to enjoy a beautiful sunset. Dinner at The Broken Oar was very good and once again we were exhausted by 10pm. Off to bed.

[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7672_zpsezup87kl.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums...UTAH%20Part%204/UT3A7678_zpsu2m1wnwx.jpg[/img]


To be continued............

Sponsors
Re: UTAH! Part 4 [Re: BEERMAN] #98395
05/25/2016 09:25 AM
05/25/2016 09:25 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
Traveler
Carol_Hill  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Wow, such amazing scenery!! Thanks for taking us along!


Carol Hill
Re: UTAH! Part 4 [Re: Carol_Hill] #98396
05/26/2016 12:16 AM
05/26/2016 12:16 AM
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,493
VIRGINIA
B
BEERMAN Offline OP
Traveler
BEERMAN  Offline OP
Traveler
B
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,493
VIRGINIA
You're welcome Carol. Part 5 will be delayed a few days, I'm helping a friend move his new sailboat from Charleston to Annapolis. Arrived in Charleston today and should be home by Monday, Life Is Good!

Re: UTAH! Part 4 [Re: BEERMAN] #98397
05/26/2016 08:13 AM
05/26/2016 08:13 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
Traveler
Carol_Hill  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Well, you're forgiven, as I'm off on my own adventure tomorrow! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />


Carol Hill
Re: UTAH! Part 4 [Re: Carol_Hill] #98398
05/28/2016 09:02 PM
05/28/2016 09:02 PM
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 219
Texas
Whitesail Offline
Traveler
Whitesail  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 219
Texas
Great trip report, just like your BVI reports! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />



[Linked Image]
Re: UTAH! Part 4 [Re: Whitesail] #98399
06/01/2016 06:48 PM
06/01/2016 06:48 PM
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,493
VIRGINIA
B
BEERMAN Offline OP
Traveler
BEERMAN  Offline OP
Traveler
B
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,493
VIRGINIA
Thanks Bill! Hope all's well <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />


Moderated by  Eric_Hill, Eva 

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.1