Moab Trip Day 2 - Adventure Races

 On the second day of our Moab trip, we got to sleep in a little. Hurray! Then we got ready and headed out to Kane Creek Road to join 999 other runners. This race was actually four races: the national championship trail marathon, a trail half-marathon, a 5K adventure race, and a kids 1K adventure run. I had signed up for the 5K, so was quite relaxed. I knew I wouldn't have a problem with the distance and I was really looking forward to the obstacles promised in the description: climbing a ladder, running through culverts and a cave, under an arch, up and down sliprock, rope assists, and more.

First we watched the first three waves start. Over 500 runners entered the half marathon and over 300 the full marathon. Within fifteen minutes over 800 people were off on the trail. Then it was time for the kids' run.

 The kids started lining up at the big starting line.

 Desert Girl looks a little uncertain at the start of her first race.

 Time for stretching, instructions (don't get ahead of the leader and stay on the course), and then it was time to go!

 Desert Girl knew what to do!


Before long I saw Desert Boy coming down the narrow trail section, a big smile on his face. He had already climbed the steep hill, gone under the arch and through the cave, and now was coming down a steep section (part of the same route as the 5K). He was loving it. I cheered him and he went on past while I waited for Desert Girl. My husband had gone to accompany her, and he said she did really well till she saw me.

 Here she is navigating the gully section that led to a huge culvert and down a ladder. I was worried about making it to the start of my 5K, which was a little down the road, but since the kids' run was on the 5K course, it had to be cleared first.

 They had three waves of starts for the 5K. I had estimated that I would be in the middle third of finishers, which put me in the second wave. I had considered asking to be moved up to the first wave, but then figured that despite doing some sprints in my runs lately, I probably wasn't really competitive with the Moab-area runners and the second wave would be fine. But I did go to the front of the pack so I could start out front. I figured that since it was a trail race, once we got on the trail it would be harder to pass. And it was. But it was still possible, like when we were running through the creek (twice!).

 I started catching up to the first wave by the time I got to the rope section. I had to wait for a couple people in front of me, but as I had been running rather fast, I didn't mind a chance to catch my breath. Sprinting and then resting was my strategy for the adventure race, and it worked well. My lungs burned as I continued running past the cacti, through the deep sand, across and down the slickrock, in gullies with loose rocks, but I knew I was doing well, so I pushed myself to continue. We ran through another culvert, traversed an obstacle course with balance boards, kids' tunnels (a tight fit!), hopping across lily pads, and even frisbee golf. Then it was a sprint to the end. When I finished, I had to sit for awhile just to catch my breath! My husband wasn't expecting me to finish as soon as I did, so he didn't have the camera ready.

 After I could breathe again, I saw the kids playing in the bounce house. I would like to tell the organizers what a brilliant idea that was! It kept the kids happy, occupied, and nearby. Desert Boy and Desert Girl jumped for over an hour.

The first half-marathon finishers came in shortly after I did. Wow! The winner finished in 1:30--on trails! I heard from a couple runners that it was an absolutely gorgeous course so am considering it for next year. The winner of the trail marathon finished in 3:03--a high school teacher from Fillmore, Utah who recently won the Spartan Ultrabeast, a marathon-length obstacle course. There are some really fit people out there! Fortunately most of the really fit people did the longer races, which meant that I won my age group. Yippee! I got a cool little trophy for my efforts, plus, more importantly, bragging rights!

After the race it was time to start on the rest of the day's activities...we had lots of fun things planned.

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...

Hanging Out

We had a little getaway, which means I'm a little behind on blogging. But never fear, I now have some more great material to work with. While I'm sorting out photos and cropping and enhancing, here are a few photos from last week, when my brother and his friend came to visit. We went on an adventure walk, which this time included hanging from a pear tree. The pears were tiny and really bitter. We kept trying to find one that tasted good, but with no luck.

 Of course if Desert Boy did it, Desert Girl had to, also. She's strong enough to hold on for ten seconds. A few times.

 I can't even remember why Desert Girl had the sad face. She's finally hit the terrible two's and is quick to cry if she doesn't get what she wants. Lately she wants her hair up in little buns. I like it, it's easy, so in this case she gets what she wants. Not so much on other things, like eating candy all day.

 The adventure walk also involved balancing on an unsturdy log over the creek. Never mind that Desert Boy wore irrigating boots expressly for the purpose of walking through the creek. Balancing and the danger of falling in is much more exciting.

 And then sure enough, he fell in. And was quite upset about it.

Time for uncle's turn across. He was successful.

Then it was time for the short hike back home with the beautiful fall leaves. We have really enjoying the weather. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who are struggling with the weather and its consequences.