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.

St. George Dinosaur Disovery

 In honor of National Fossil Day on Wednesday, here's a post about some cool fossils we saw recently. We were headed to St. George, Utah to watch some friends run in the St. George marathon, and I figured that since we were going to make the trip, it would be a great opportunity to see some of the sights. With Desert Boy's love of paleontology, it was only natural that we head to the Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm. 

This is a relatively new site, discovered in 2000 when Dr. Sheldon Johnson was leveling a hill on his property. He found the dinosaur tracks, and it was quickly seen that this was an exceptionally good place for tracks. He worked to preserve the tracks instead of developing the land. I couldn't help but wonder what dinosaur tracks lay under the nearby parking lot, roads, church, and houses.

 And the tracks sure are spectacular! These are not difficult to see at all. I liked to think of the dinosaurs wandering across the landscape, unknowingly leaving prints that would be preserved for millions of years.

 At least three different species of dinosaurs left tracks at the site.

 We also saw fossilized mud cracks, which are cool looking.

 The site also has some other really interesting tracks, such as these swim tracks. Apparently it's rare to find tracks that dinosaurs made as they were entering the water and starting to swim. I also really liked the impression of dinosaur skin. It doesn't seem like it could be so old!

 The kids really liked the touchable fossils.

 I thought this fossil was really pretty--and big! We were on little kid speed through the museum, which meant I couldn't read very much.

Much of the museum protects the biggest trackway, with a dinosaur replica to give a sense of scale. Although the museum isn't very large, it sure is interesting.

 The kids especially liked the hands-on activities in the activity room.

Another favorite was the sandbox.

It looks like the museum is working on making a short trail out back, which would be a nice addition.

Hope you have a great National Fossil Day!

A Quick Hike

 A couple weeks ago I was really worried that all the fall colors would disappear rapidly (as they do some years), so I dragged the kids up into the mountains to go for a little hike. The vibrant rabbitbrush along the way caught my attention. Most years I am allergic to it, but for some reason this year it hasn't bothered me. (Ragweed, however, is another story.)

 We stopped at Mather Overlook, but I had a hard time getting the photo I wanted. The sky was overcast and kind of blah, but there were nice colors scattered all around.

 As we continued higher, I just got more excited by the colors. I stopped, hopped out, and looked for scenic vistas to capture to remember of all the color when we soon enter the monochrome season of winter. My kids weren't nearly as impressed. Someday they will be.

 The sun peeked from behind the clouds to dust these aspens with a few rays as we drove by.

 I was grateful that hardly anyone else was on the road, as I kept stopping to take more photos!

 This dead limber pine is one of my favorite trees in Great Basin National Park. It's just past the Wheeler Peak summit trailhead.

 Finally we reached the parking lot and got out. You can see how excited my kids were. Desert Girl was really tired, so I knew there was no point in even trying to get her to hike. Instead, I put her in the stroller.

 Soon Desert Boy was feeling better.

 Even Desert Girl managed a hint of a smile.

 This aspen tree is part of the reason I wanted to go up there. I love how it curves.

 Desert Boy even helped me with a smile.

 We decided we had enough energy for  a walk through the campground.

 But first I had to run and get a different camera battery and couldn't resist a photo of the trail to the amphitheatre.

 It was so incredibly beautiful that I wanted to dawdle and spend as much time as possible. However, it was a little on the chilly side.

 I tried experimenting with more creative compositions. I figure if I take enough photos eventually I'll end up with something good. I need to learn to be a little more aggressive with the delete button on the computer so I don't fill up the hard drive too fast.

 Desert Boy really enjoyed pushing his sister, and she was content. She just let her feet, encased in cowboy boots, dangle, as it was too much work to put them on the footrest.

This has to be one of the prettiest campsites anywhere. We're going to have to try to stay there--next summer! I'm not too eager for camping in freezing conditions!

A Walk in the Woods

Shoes? Check.
Cameras? Check.
Water bottles? Check.
LOTS of snacks? Check.
Pirate gear? Check.
Princess paraphanelia? Check.
Train sounds? Check.
We were ready to go hiking, a little walk in the woods.

 I was on the lookout for photos for a photo challenge, with this week's theme being fruit and flowers. I found some Oregon grape (Mahonia repens) berries.

 Desert Boy had expressed some interest in taking photos, so I let him use my old camera. Desert Girl just wanted a snack.

 Redroot buckwheat (Eriogonum racemosum), one of the prettiest late summer flowers.

 Our hike suddenly got exciting when we found we could eat some of nature's bounty. The wild raspberries were delicious.

 A butterfly landed on my shirt. It turned out to be a Pine White.

 The currants were at their peak, and the kids quickly learned how to forage for them.

 Yum!

 I saw this dragonfly (or is it a damselfly?) and that made me take the photo, but I didn't notice the spider dangling underneath till later.

 We made it to our destination, a bridge where the kids snacked and spent twenty minutes throwing sticks into the water. They really didn't want to leave, but finally conceded it would be okay as long as they had hiking sticks.

 The sun peeked out from the storm clouds and made the mountain mahogany seeds glow.

 The trees look so cool!

Here are the kids sharpening their wood pirate and princess knives. They made up lots of games on the hike back, which made me delighted as in the past I've had to make up games for them. They also thought it was lots of fun to run down the trail, and Desert Girl would yell out, "Running," and then take off. They already want to hike again today, so I think that means we had a successful day.