No Thanksgiving plans this year resulted in a last minute trip down south. We made plans on Saturday and left Tuesday. The pictures never do it justice. If you read this and have not been down in the southern Utah area, it is a must. Some of the craziest things I have seen anywhere.
Gear explosion Sunday night:
After I got off work Tuesday at 4:30, Dalton, Chey and I drove 10 hours south east to the Bonneville Salt Flats and stayed on the edge of them under some epic mountains. It was about 20 degrees and we nearly froze to death setting up the tents. You can see Cheyenne's hands in the picture below.
We awoke on Tatooine. Even colder than we had been the night before. Stoke at an all time high but running on about 2-3 hours of frozen "sleep"
We brought outfits to look cool on the salt flats but honestly it was cold and it was mostly pain. The flats are very cool and its weird to be able to drive around on something so flat with no road. It feels wrong. For some reason my brain expected the salt to be soft ontop but its like cement.
We kept on south through Salt Lake city where Chey got In n Out for the first time. We drove another 5 hours down to Canyonlands National Park. This picture is us at a small arch called Mesa Arch. There was a million people standing just to our left so dont be fooled about its remoteness. It was also a half mile hike from the road which was not far from the visitor's center.
Juniper Trees are all over the region. They remind me of the Prince of Egypt when Moses is in the desert.
Named this rock Potato Chip
Found a campsite at Horsethief Campground. Got booted from our initial campsite because a van had tagged it before we arrived and we didnt notice. The area was crawling with vans and built out Jeeps. It was a van life heaven.
This was our campsite on Thanksgiving morning. Dalton was chef.
We hiked the Wilhite Trail which we totally underestimated given its relatively gentle 1600ft elevation change. Cheyenne was excited to hike:
An unusual hike because the trail was easy to lose, we relied on cairns that marked the trail so we really had to be on the lookout for those. Sunny but cold brought out the sunnies and the down.
After dropping down some epic echoing canyons we skirted along some canyon edges and dropped through several million years of rock layers. My gps said we were at over 7 miles and I was concerned we had missed a turn or were on the wrong trail. We eventually met up with the White Rim Road at the end of our trail. The White Rim Road is a 100 mile dirt road that skirts the lower rims on the park. There is no support down on it, which is why everyone has built out overlanding Jeeps and vans. A total adventure of another type.
We slipped across the road and slid into the Holeman Slot Canyon. Which was the main highlight at the end of the Wilhite Trail.
It had some pretty severe drops, one which is 15 ft and I went down. I wasnt sure I was going to be able to make it back up without someone giving me a hand from above. So I tried to see if I could make it back up without a hand. I couldnt so we called it there before we ended up trapped. The canyon ends in an 80ft sheer drop off so we couldnt walk out of the other end. We were the only people who were on the trail that day. A nice contrast to what we would see in Arches.
Here I am helping Dalton up one of the smaller drops.
Spotted a rock shelter on our way back to the car. This particular one has been dated to around 1300, making it likely the oldest buildings I have ever been in.
We went to Moab after we were done with Canyonlands and spent the night in town there. The next morning we went to Arches after a couple hours exploring Moab.
Delicate Arch. A 3 mile hike out and back to see this one. A million people there to see it as well.
La Sal mountains behind me:
Double Arch:
Balanced Rock:
We headed north to Salt Lake after Arches and got this spicy demon that ruined our bodies the next day
After Salt Lake we drove to the Bruneau Sand Dunes and sledded/ boarded down the slopes. A cool spot.
Just outside of McCall, ID on our return trip.
Traveling makes me remember how small the world really is. The places I have read about or seen pictures of arent that far away. If you feel comfortable, travel. Once this pandemic is over itll feel more safe to do so.
Stay rad. Stay alert. Stay alive.
