Between Moab and Capitol Reef National Park we’ve enjoyed so much this lovely state has to offer, yet we’ve barely scratched the surface. While so very dry and dusty (one local said it hadn’t rained her for seven months!) this land’s austere beauty would be diminished without those harsh limitations.
We’re sharing a few photo-logs (PLOGS?) of what we saw and did in some pretty cool places here in Utah lately. Here’s the third installment.
PLOG 1: Natural Bridges National Monument
PLOG 2: Biking Jacob’s Chair
Our boondocking camp sat on the ledge of a dry wash, which we had biked around on our visit to Jacob’s Chair. We decided it was time to descend into the wash itself and see what we’d find there.
The wash showed evidence of only occasional water. We learned later from a ranger at Capitol Reef that such occurrences are generally flash floods caused by sudden thunderstorms, the exact events that cause the most canyon erosion over time. We were in no danger of rain on this hike, but we did get surprised by finding standing water in one dead-end slot canyon.
That was just past where we saw the mountain lion tracks and scat, plus many claw marks up a steep slickrock incline. After that, we found large walking sticks to carry along the way, and we kept to the middle of the canyon so as to avoid tempting any vertical ambushes from the cliff edges above us.
For those and the other cool things we saw, please check out the gallery below.
The dry wash took us to an abrupt end inside a small slot canyon. This small pond of water was weirdly littered with thousands of tiny dead moths and their wings. :-0
Glenn trying to figure out if he can climb out of this slot canyon...
The varied colors and types of stones along the dry riverbed were mixed in an oddly even way.
The oh-so-dry wash of Fry Canyon.
The dry wash took us to an abrupt end inside a small slot canyon. This small pond of water was weirdly littered with thousands of tiny dead moths and their wings. :-0
When full of water, we imagine this gives the Cowboy Jacuzzi's of Moab a run for its money!
The dry wash took us to an abrupt end inside a small slot canyon. This small pond of water was weirdly littered with thousands of tiny dead moths and their wings. :-0
Rachel entering the small slot canyon we discovered along the dry wash. The entry was topped by a wedged boulder!
Honeycombing along the canyon's mid-ledge.
Mountain lion claw marks! There were so many along this steep slickrock incline. We believe this is one of the main ways up to and down from its hide along the canyon wall where it ambushes unlikely prey. After seeing such stark signs, we walked more toward the center of the wash...!
Is it Spiderman? Nope. It's Rachel scrambling up the steep slickrock incline.
Glenn considers whether we can climb our way out...
Rachel butt-scoots her way down the slickrock incline.
Glenn stuffs himself inside the honecombed cliff. Cozy!
Our toasty campfire after our hike.
Look ma! A hanging stone! :-0
The dry wash took us to an abrupt end inside a small slot canyon. This is a view up from the bottom.
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