Moab Trip Day 1--Little Wild Horse Canyon

On our way out of Goblin Valley State Park, we stopped at the visitor center, which doubles as the entrance station. They had some nice exhibits. I also asked the ranger about Little Wild Horse canyon. The information I had found on the Internet said it was the most-visited canyon on the San Rafael Swell, and a beautiful hike, but I wanted confirmation on how to get there. The ranger pulled out a slick brochure with good instructions, and off we went.

We turned at a signed post and drove about five miles on a good paved road. I think they recently paved the road, because a couple of other instructions mentioned it being gravel. The pavement ended at the signed parking lot. We got our things ready and headed up the trail. In about ten minutes we reached a canyon junction, with a sign.

Bell Canyon and Little Wild Horse Canyon are two canyons next to each other, and they can be hiked as an eight-mile long loop. We knew that was a little too much for us, so we headed up to Little Wild Horse Canyon to reach the narrows, which begin about half a mile up the canyon. Here's the start of the canyon:

Desert Girl wasn't walking at the beginning because she was in a Terrible Twos moment. But as we went farther up the canyon, she begged to be let down.

It kept getting better and better.

Soon it started getting narrow. We let Desert Girl down.

She liked touching the walls.

I asked Desert Boy to smile for the camera. This is what he gave me.

We continued enjoying ourselves as we wound our way though the slot canyon. It was beautiful and tranquil, yet we couldn't help but hurry a little to discover what was around the next corner.

Eventually we got to the end of the narrows, and the canyon opened up. We decided that would be a good turnaround, as it was getting late in the afternoon and we still had to drive to Moab that night.
Before we began our hike back down, I convinced everyone to pose for a photo.

We're all looking in the right direction--hurray!!

Then the race was on. The kids love to run downhill, especially in sand. We had to jog a little to keep up.

Taking photos in a dimly-lit slot canyon is already enough of a challenge--but throw in running kids, and it makes it, well, a little blurry!

By the way, my husband picked out Desert Girl's outfit and color combo. She was comfortable! And she kept on running.

She was asking if she could do the Kids Fun Run the next day with Desert Boy, and after I saw how far she ran, I thought my answer would be yes.

This really is a gorgeous hike (or jog). We saw a couple other people on the trail before we went into Little Wild Horse Canyon, but no one else. During the summer they say the parking lot fills up and people have to park down the road. You'd have to pack a lot of water in the hot months, but we were fine with just a couple water bottles.

Desert Boy was fascinated with the dry mud, and started looking all over for it and picking it up whenever he found it.

I asked the kids to pose for a photo, but my favorite shot was of them doing a high five.

The canyon obviously gets some flash floods. We found debris well over Desert Boy's head and talked to him about what to do if you're in a flash flood. Even more importantly, we talked about in what kind of weather you don't go into narrow canyons.

Desert Girl got Daddy to give her a ride out the last bit.

We would definitely like to go back, maybe to do the whole loop.

Moab Trip--Day 1: Elk, San Rafael Swell, & Goblin Valley

Last weekend we took a three-day trip, with Moab as our main destination. I had signed up for a 5k Adventure Race, part of the Moab Trail Marathon race. My husband agreed to take three whole days off. That might not sound like much to some; I work with a bunch of people who regularly have three days off each week. But for us, three whole days together is quite an occasion. So I started planning early, bound and determined to make the best of those three days. I looked through guidebooks and trolled the Internet looking for the best things to do and places to go.

Not far out of town, we came across something I hadn't planned for. We saw a big bunch of beasts out in the distance. Were they wild horses? No, that didn't seem right. They were elk. Totally unexpected, as we had never seen them there before. Fortunately I had my camera handy, and we pulled over to the side of the road to watch them.

The elk started running. Where were they going?

Towards a herd of pronghorn. Oh my goodness, it was like Wild America right in our backyard. Wow!
We passed several more herds of pronghorn--probably 40 to 50 in total. My husband reminisced about how few pronghorn he saw as a little boy. The population sure has increased since then.

The first hour and a half of driving we were with my brother and his friend. She was having some car troubles and we wanted to make sure they made it okay. It was a good thing we did, as her car broke down and we had to give it a jump. Fortunately that allowed them to get to a bigger town where they could get replacement parts. We bid adieu and headed our different directions. Soon we were on I-70, heading across the middle of Utah. We needed a stretch break at one point, so we pulled off at one of the many rest stops along the scenic San Rafael Swell.

It was hard not to take off hiking down in the beautiful country! The agreeable temperatures made it even more appealing. Desert Boy was full of energy, so we climbed around a bit.

Don't fall!

It made me want to climb so much! But I had decided climbing wasn't on the agenda for this trip, at least not technical climbing. We had other things to do and places to go. The next was Goblin Valley State Park, about 40 minutes off the Interstate. I had seen the signs several times, but never had taken the time to visit. This time we were going.

Here's the view from the parking lot. It looks like a lot of little gnomes. If it looks slightly familiar, it might be because a scene from the movie Galaxy Quest was filmed here.

I told Desert Boy we could play Hide-n-Seek, and he took off running.

Where are you, Desert Boy?
It was a good game, and as we were visiting off season, we had it nearly to ourselves. Plus we were perfectly comfortable in jeans and shirts.

Desert Boy took a photo of us. We are trying to be better about getting family shots, and I realized we should try for a few couple shots, too.

Amid all the dry, desolate goblins we found one little muddy pool. The kids wanted to know how deep it was. I told them they could, but they weren't allowed to fall in.

This was their solution. It fit with the little chant they say frequently: "What's going to work? Teamwork. What's going to work? Teamwork." It is always music to my ears.

Goblin Valley State Park has three fairly short trails. I think we were on part of one for a little while. I would love to go back and do more. We drove through their campground and found that the campsites are not only located in a great location, but the campground has showers! That made us want to go back even more. A few amenities while camping are highly desirable to this family! Plus I would love to go hiking around the goblins under a full moon.

Our day wasn't finished--my Internet research had revealed a nearby slot canyon...to be continued...

Searching for Garnets

 While we were in Ely one Sunday, we decided to go visit Garnet Hill Recreation Area. We had a rock hammer and were eager to find lots of garnets.

When we got there, we found a few other people looking for garnets. We went to an area not far from the parking lot where it looked like a lot of people had looked. Desert Boy was eager to try out the rock hammer.

 It was hard work, but he was ready!

 Then it was Daddy's time to take a turn.

Meanwhile Desert Girl was taking a nap, so I wandered around the gullies looking for some garnets that had eroded out of the rock.

 I found a couple, but it was a little frustrating because I was hoping to find a lot more.

 We ended up with about five garnets with three people looking for nearly an hour. Not so great. Especially when I knew where there were a lot more garnets up Hampton Creek in the North Snake Range.

 This time the kids took naps on the bumpy ride up the canyon so they were both ready to go searching when we arrived. We didn't have to go far--there are garnets even right in the parking area!

 Desert Boy was more interested in making stone houses. Henry was in a lazy-dog mood and just hung out.

 Once I found a couple, I started seeing garnets everywhere.

 Most are quite small. These are almandite garnets. They were mined from here for a time in the 1960s (see my book for more info). Garnets, in addition to being semi-precious gems, are also used for industrial purposes, such as sandpaper.

 Fortunately we had two containers so that Desert Girl had her own. She liked putting more than just garnets in hers. Then she would get tired of what was in there and dump it all out and start again. We tried to ignore her bucket and make sure she didn't get too close to the one my husband and I were sharing.

 With her little fingers, she could pick up the garnets quickly. If she chose to.

 She also really wanted to wear a dress. We do lots of pants wearing under the dresses so she can go out and romp around.

Can you find the garnets in the photo above? They are dark red. They are easiest to find on a sunny day.

 We never strayed far from the parking area and found plenty. It was quite rewarding, and also quite relaxing. Maybe those hunter-gatherer genes are kicking in, making us feel successful as we collected our harvest.

Meanwhile the stone house was getting quite elaborate.

 Soon it was time to share the finds.

 Desert Girl and one of her many expressions. She also graced us with songs with exciting lyrics like, "Garnet, Garnet, Little Garnet in My Bucket. Garnet, Garnet, Little Garnet." (repeat about 50 times)

 Desert Boy got a little more interested in garnets at the end. We also found some rocks with nice displays of garnets and took some of those home. They will be winter projects.

 The garnets at Hampton Creek might be smaller than those at Garnet Hill, but it was much easier to find them. Since we were looking for quantity more than quality, this was a great spot for us.

 And apparently the rocks were just right for making stone houses.

We had the canyon all to ourselves on this beautiful afternoon. We hope to go back sometime (maybe next summer?) and camp--it would be lots of fun to spend even more time collecting garnets and building stone houses.