ON TO MOAB

A week after the toenail incident I am now able to put on my shoes, but the hiking boots are still not in use.  It's disappointing as that was one of the main reasons for this trip.

We left Zion and headed east on the very scenic Hwy 12 to Torrey, Utah.  The original plan was to spend one night in motel in Torrey then a night in Capitol Reef National Park.  Due to the toe and the weather forecast, we opted for both nights at the motel. Good choice as we had cold temps with rain and snow.  We did do some exploring in the 4-runner.

CROSSING THE FREMONT RIVER

STORM CLOUDS

Next the plan was to take a hike into Horseshoe Canyon  but now that was out of the question we opted to camp at Goblin Valley State Park.   We arrived early in order to get a campsite at this very popular park.

 CAMP VISITOR

The next morning, after a restful night, and breakfast of blueberry pancakes, we packed up the 4-runner and headed to Moab.  We are renting this townhome and sharing the digs with friends Gary and Diane.  After settling in, we planed our first excursion into red rock country.  In case you didn't know, the Moab area is a mecca for mountain biking, river rafting, the Colorado River runs through town, and 4- wheel driving.  The region is crisscrossed with off road trails ranging from easy graded county roads to others with names like, Steel Bender and Metal Masher.  We opt for the ones on the easy end of the scale.

First up was Gemini Bridges and twin rock bridge very popular with both bikes and off road vehicles.

On way to Gemini Bridges we were climbing a rocky and steep road when we were passed by a mountain biker.  These guys are tough.

After the bridges we headed down Pucker Pass into Long Canyon before heading up Onion Creek

PUCKER PASS

LONG CANYON

ONION CREEK

And that' just the first day.

On a different subject, I have been following a blog for 5 years now about a man, Ara and his dog, Spirit, who travel the country on his BMW motorcycle and side car.  I especially like his photography.  Anyway over the year we have crossed paths, but never running into him.  Well the other day after reading his blog and discovering he was in Moab I thought we might run into him.  As luck would have it I saw him approaching us at and intersection, so I flagged him down.  We introduced ourselves and had a nice conversation with him on the side of the road.  You can check out his blog Here.  

To be continued.....