Before we jump into my Moab birthday trip, I had the realization that the last time I was in Southern Utah was for a past birthday, and, like this trip, it was also with my brother and sister in-law. We went to Vegas and then stopped in Zion for a day to explore. Here’s a few shots from Zion.
Ok enough nostalgia! For my birthday this year, Emily and I decided to meet up with my sister, brother and his wife in Southern Utah for 5 days of desert exploration! We wanted to take Rex the Van and, in a whirlwind of last minute work, we were able to insulate both walls, the floor and get a few placeholder walls up for the trip, not to mention new tires and an oil change! Emily got me some fender flares for my birthday and I was able to get them Line X’d a day before. While installing them, my drill bit broke and so I had to put the other half on hold until later that night. By the time 9PM rolled around, we were finally ready to hit the road. I was especially excited for this trip because I had just received the new Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless and a brand new Shimoda Action X Camera Backpack! Moab seemed like the perfect place to break them both in!
We left on a Thursday night, drove 4 hours to Butte, Montana and stayed in a gravel parking lot behind a creepy old prison. But not before getting pulled over about 20 feet from our destination! Apparently, you have to have your blinker on for a certain distance when you’re turning in Montana. I also had a tail light out, but I think the real reason they stopped me was to check out the van. The trip wasn’t off to a great start, but we were just happy to be road tripping together. 9 hours to go!
After a short night sleep, Emily jumped into the driver seat and knocked a few hours off heading south. As we pulled off the highway for gas, Emily realized something was wrong with the brakes. She had to put her entire weight on them to get the van to stop, and I immediately started googling, thankful this happened in a town with service and multiple garages. I determined we were either low on brake fluid (which we weren’t) or there was some issue with the brake booster. After calling several booked out mechanics, a local guy looked at the van free of charge and told me I was almost correct. Apparently, the vacuum pump had gone out which connects to the brake booster. He recommended I head to the dealership which, to my surprise, was only a few miles away. Dealerships usually mean $$$ so, with a heavy heart, we dropped Rex off and were back on the road 3 hours later (and $600 poorer).
Our spirits were lifted slightly at the site of the In-N-Out sign in Salt Lake City. Emily and I love In-N-Out (I love the chilis and almost always eat too many). Later that night, we made a left turn down a dirt road near Arches National Park, on the hunt for our campsite for the night. We met up with my family and barely found a place to car camp, a fellow dirt bagger I talked to said he’d never seen the area so crowded in all the years he’d been coming. Since there was no room for tent camping, my sister Katy slept in the Van with Emily and I, while my brother and his wife put the seats down in their car and cuddled up on a foam mattress pad.
The day was fairly stressful, but something about curling up in the back of Rex makes you feel at home no matter where you are.
Arches National Park
My alarm went off at 5AM. I attempted to get everyone moving but decided to let them sleep in a bit more. Putting on my boots, I hopped out of the van and knocked on my brothers car window. His wife opened the door and immediately the car alarm started blaring throughout the campsite. My brother shot up from his slumber. “TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF!” he was yelling as his wife looked around for the keys. We did not make any friends that morning but we did have a good laugh, and we were definitely awake. We decided with how busy the area was proving to be, we should leave a car to save our spot and just drive Rex into the park for the day. We drove through Patk Ave as the sun rose. Purple, red and orange hues intermixed with the prominent rocky landscape and our jaws dropped. A great intro to the park. We made our way to Double Arch and Window Arch for a small hike and some early morning photos.
We jumped in the van and headed back to the visitor center for a map. In just two hours (probably less), the park had been closed due to the amount of people flooding in. The gift shop cashier confirmed she’d never seen anything like it.
We drove past Delicate Arch, as it looked very crowded. We drove to fiery furnace, however we didn’t realize you needed a permit. We drove to Devils Garden, and got redirected because it was, you guessed it, too crowded. Finally, we decided to just park a half mile down the road at a legal pullout and walk.
We explored Sand Dune Arch, but there were so many toddlers in the sand, I honestly felt like I was in a sandbox at recess. We pushed on further into the canyon and above the crowds and eventually found some seclusion along with some interesting rock formations!
From there we hiked to Broken Arch and Tapestry Arch, stopped at Devils Garden Campground for water, and had lunch.
Driving back through the park, we checked on Delicate Arch again, but a huge sign read “LOT FULL” and rangers were directing traffic to move on. We even checked back an hour later and still we had no luck. It was then I accepted I wasn’t going to see Delicate Arch on this trip, which I found quite humorous, as that’s the main reason most people visit the park in the first place.
We left the park and decided to walk through the town of Moab which, as it turns out, was also struggling with the influx of people. It took us over an hour to drive the 5 miles from the park to the downtown area of Moab. We had dinner and left for our campsite. I was ready to explore some areas that were a bit less…populated
Canyonlands National Park
Contrary to my goal of isolation, I woke up at 5:00 AM and drove straight to Mesa Arch. An admittedly overshot area, this short hike in Canyonlands is definitely worth seeing at least once, especially at sunrise. We pulled up and I took off alone to secure my front row seat, as I’d heard it can get fairly crowded. As I approached the rock, I saw that I had already been beat by 2 other photographers. That’s some dedication. Our crowd of 3 turned to 5, turned to 20, turned to at least 50 people, all coming to witness the sunrise under this vibrant arch.
At one point, a toddler kicked my tripod very forcefully, and her mother unknowingly spilled a decent amount of hot coffee into my boot. Patience won me this iconic panorama and once I had it, we got out of there in a hurry.
Created by stitching three 11mm shots together. I underestimated how wide this arch was!
We ventured further into the park and grabbed a map. I saw a sign warning travelers not to enter this specific dirt road without 4WD. Now THAT sounds like a place to go to escape the crowds. After filling out a permit, we embarked down the White Rim Road for a scenic afternoon drive.
The Desert
The next day, we drove south into some lesser known areas. The brown dirt turned to a grey black dust that made us feel like we were on a different planet.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
My brother, his wife and my sister had to leave early in the morning, so we decided to go and explore Escalante. Long story short, we decided to drive down the Hole-in-the-Rock Road which was a solid 2 hours of washboard road. We ended up not having time to do the hike we wanted, so we turned around and drove right back. It was a very long day with not much payout, but we played a few road games and had fun talking with each other. Below are a view examples of the road conditions and the deep powdery sand we used 4x4 through.
Got back to camp, made some ramen and went to bed.
In the morning, we said our goodbyes and Emily and I went straight to Calf Creek for a morning hike. After that we made a short stop at Capitol Reef and then headed home. Thanks for reading!
