Utah Part 1

Our first camping spot in Utah was at Dead Horse Point State Park. As we were driving up to the park and gaining elevation the temperature kept dropping (this would occur the next few days). It was snowing, around 0 degrees Celsius, and the picnic table at our campsite had about 15 cm of snow on it. All this is NOT to say that we weren’t super impressed and loving it. The canyonous view along our campground was out-of-this-world. Upon arrival before setting up we took a quick drive to the actual point known as Dead Horse Point. Unbelievable panoramic view. 

     Seeing as it was actively snowing Amy and I made the executive decision to make dinner for all and that we all have dinner in the car. We then told the girls we’d put their seats down and they could stretch out in Highlander and sleep in the car for the night. They were excited and this worked well. Amy and I waited until the forecast said the wind would die down (around 10pm) to set up our 2-person tent. As the campsite had power, we gave the kids one of the 250 Watt heaters and we took the other in our tent. It snowed and hailed at night.

    The next morning we hiked to the Big Horn lookout right from our campsite. The views were amazing. Below should be some pics showing cool pools (holes) at the cliff edge. In the afternoon we drove to Canyonlands National Park “Island in the Sky” section. The Grandview Point Trail we walked on was unlike anything I had ever seen before. We waited in the car for a few moments with hopes it would stop snowing and it did! What follows is my best attempt to describe the view from up there. I know the pictures (as any pictures taken here) will be incredibly disappointing. I experienced this pseudo-disappointment at the gift shop myself. I was looking at postcards thinking “sure that’s beautiful, it was taken from a helicopter.” Turns out the pictures I thought were taken from a helicopter were not. Island in the Sky is aptly named because it is like you are floating above the world as you walk around. Below you see canyons. But not just the bottom of a canyon but the top of a canyon with a bottom of that canyon below it. It is recursion — kind of like Russian dolls if you can imagine that. Even though I was trying for HDR (high dynamic range) pics taken on a tripod and the photo quality is amazing every picture fails to capture the panoramic nature and the recursion I tried to describe above. You really gotta try camping at DHP with your daughters and wife, Joe Timmins.

   That evening we had food packets (Greek style with chicken) prepared in individually wrapped aluminum foil and cooked around one hour on the pancake pan and electric stove since power was provided. That $30 two burner electric stove sure saves on the propane. They were delicious. I hope Beth and Jamie steal some ideas from us when they camp in Newfoundland this supper because no one should be peasant eating.

    The next day we had a fantastic repelling and rafting adventure but Miriam will write about that. 

    The day after rafting we went hiking to the “Windows Section” of Arches National Park. I quickly climbed a rock for a photo angle that took me 15 minutes to figure out how to get down from with Lucy and Miriam’s help. Amy wasn’t happy about this. Amy also didn’t feel comfortable (and neither did I) about the climbing Lucy and Miriam were doing. It would have been ok if they had helmets and safety ropes but of course they did not. This resulted in a little chat to set some limits. We visited Fiery Furnace and saw ant-sized people from the Delicate Arch viewpoint. The afternoon was spent hiking Devil’s Garden. There were of course various arches of different flavours — all beautiful. At one point on the road there were 5 or so deer grazing. We took many photo-ops and the furthest point of the hike was a tricky climb onto a rock with a great view. Hundreds of people were doing this hike just to clarify, even though it was quite dangerous and I’m surprised the litigation loving nation that is America allows it. I’m glad they do though.

   The next morning Amy and I awoke before sunrise and drove to the point at DHP. The sunrise was definitely worth waking up for! After packing up we shopped for groceries and stopped for lunch at the Rotary Park in Moab. The park had a dozen or more outdoor musical instruments including drums, pipes and xylophones. We all enjoyed playing them for a while. I noticed a man biking by; then curiosity got the best of him and he got off his bike and played music for about half an hour while wearing his bike helmet. Next stop: Needles Outpost campground beside the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park. 

This photo demonstrates the recursion
...looking into a canyon that has it's own canyon!

Hiking

Turret Arch in Arches NP

This is a 'Find Lucy and Miriam' picture

Grand View Point hike in Canyonlands NP

Tapir in an arch

Rotary Park in Moab

Landscape arch...so pretty

Snow on the car on the first morning at Dead horse point.

Spaghetti carbonara...cold doesn't mean hungry...prosciutto...so good!

Hanging out in the car the first cold night

Sunrise at Dead horse point

Dead horse point hike to Big Horn

Grand View point

More recursion...after the snow squall had passed

Rotary Park in Moab

Kids in safe (non climbing) position

Inside double arch

Dead horse point on the first day

Big horn lookout

Big horn lookout