Saturday, May 30, 2015

Musselman Arch

I drove the jeep from Potash up through Canyonlands National Park to see and photograph the Musselman Arch. It's five feet thick, six feet wide, 187 feet long and 300 feet straight down...

Click on photos to enlarge


Monday, May 25, 2015

Moab Rocks

One of the things the Moab area is known for are the incredible rock formations, particularly, arches and bridges. While out exploring some dirt roads south of town, I came across the following arches near the Behind The Rocks trail...

Balcony Arch

Picture Frame Arch

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Strike Ravine

After several days of unseasonably cool and wet weather, the sun came out long enough for me to take the jeep over Strike Ravine. Although the trail is rated "difficult", I found it to be relativity easy with only a couple of spots where I shifted into four wheel drive low.

The trail ended at Area BFE, a privately owned, open to the public property that is being developed into a world-class, extreme 4-wheel-drive park. This being the Memorial Day weekend, the party crowd was setting up an area for live entertainment...

Some very comfortable seating

The stage is on a trailer

Early arrival

I was invited to join the festivities but once I realized the action was going to start about the time I normally go to bed, I politely declined the offer.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Seven Mile Rim

Seven Mile Rim is a fun trail north of Moab that combines variety of terrain with panoramic views of the valley and the Monitor & Merrimac buttes...

1,000+ feet straight down

Uranium Arch

Wipe-Out Hill

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Secret Spire

Our group decided to go somewhere new so we set out to discover the super "Secret Spire" and despite our guide being lost most of the time and running us around in circles, we did (much to everyone's amazement) arrive at our destination...


Saturday, May 16, 2015

Birthing Rock

When I first started traveling the western states, I thought petroglyphs were fairly rare. Four years later, I have discovered they are fairly ubiquitous covering vast areas from Mexico to Canada. I now refer to them as "early American graffiti". That said, it is still pretty impressive realizing that you are looking at something that is hundreds, if not thousands of years old.

The Birthing Rock (N38.31.321 W109.36.168) just off the Chicken Corners trail has some great petroglyphs including one that gave it its name, a figure apparently giving birth...




On the way back, I took a photo of the Poison Spider arch...

Friday, May 15, 2015

Pronghorns

While out exploring back roads north of Moab, I came across a group of pronghorns...

They appear to be shedding their winter coat

This one was curious and came within 30 feet of the jeep

Thursday, May 14, 2015

2015 Rally On The Rocks

This week is the big Rally On The Rocks here in Moab so I slipped next door to the Spanish Trail Arena to see what the vendors are offering this year...

Click on photos to enlarge

Once again, the theme in side-by-sides appears to be "bigger is better" as the 1000s dominated the show...


Equipped with an incredible sound system

Turbocharged (180+ hp) and setup for the dunes

Modified to handle 36 inch tires

Monday, May 11, 2015

Metal Masher Part Deux

A group of friends from previous years in Moab joined me to complete the Metal Masher ride that was cut short last month due to a tree jumping in front of Larry and Carol's RZR and eating the radiator.

Although I have seen a number of signs asking visitors to leash their pets during the big horn sheep breeding season, today was the first time I saw a big horn in the area...


Lastly, here are a couple of shots of the guys playing around on "Widow Maker"...


Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Mill Creek

This morning I took a short hike up the Mill Creek Trail where you pass a man-made waterfall at an old mill site...

Sunday, May 03, 2015

Wind Caves

One of the many things I enjoy about the Moab area is the seemingly endless places to explore. Today, it was the Wind Caves just off the Chicken Corners trail (N 38.27.042 W109.39.942). This collection of massive rocks has over the ages formed a maze of caves, tunnels and crevices...