Moab, UT - 09/22/13

Sunday – September 22, 2013
Moab, Utah

We awoke to a sunny sky, warm weather in the high 60’s and very windy. Did I mention it was windy! The local weather forecast issued a wind advisory for the area, with winds gusting close to 60 mph. We had to really hold onto our trailer door really tight when we opened it or the wind would rip it right out of your hand. The weather forecast was for windy conditions with rain today and the week ahead would be dry, warm and sunny. We decided today would be a good day to scout the Moab area for areas to explore when the weather was nicer.

We stopped at the Visitor Center in Moab, on US-191, to gather information on locations for water, dump stations and BLM campgrounds throughout Utah. Of interest, almost 80 percent of Utah is public land. We continued on US-191 north of Moab to Scenic Byway UT-128. This byway skirts the southeastern edge of the Arches National Park and follows the Colorado River. Magnificent rock formations towering above this byway, dazzle one’s senses of the powerful forces at work that have created these natural works of art.

After traveling on the Scenic Byway UT-128 for about 30 miles, we turned onto the LaSal Mountain Loop Road that would take us back to our campground. What an adventure this was! It started off on a nicely paved, fairly level road. As we progressed, the road got narrower and steeper, with really deep drop-offs on one side. Naturally, that was the passenger side, so Sharon enjoyed quite a few white-knuckle moments! To make our drive more exciting, segments of the road had potholes that had to be avoided, and this was also open range for cattle! Quite a few times we encountered cattle on the side of the road and one time there were four cattle blocking the road.

We had to pass over several mountain peaks at elevations of perhaps as high as 10,000 feet, complete with foggy and rainy weather. Finally, after 65 miles, we made our descent from the last mountain peak into our campground at Ken’s Lake. We high-fived each other and promised not to explore that road again… at least not again on this trip!

Tomorrow another adventure begins.