Arches National Park

Over Labor Day weekend we took the family and met my mom and dad in Moab. Moab is a hopping place on long weekends and we had a hard time finding rooms at a semi-reasonable rate. We contemplated staying an hour away in Green River until I found that campgrounds also had fun little cabins. The campground we stayed at actually had a 2 bedroom apartment for rent above their office and the kids stayed in this little cabin that was named the Saloon. (I was just glad we weren't assigned to the cabin called the Brothel. I should have taken a picture just to show that it really was named that.) We had a lot more room for less than the cost of a motel.

Our first stop was Dead Horse Point. We are so lucky to live in Utah where we have such great scenery. I think I'm so used to it that I don't appreciate how magnificent it really is.
We hiked over to Delicate Arch. This was a long hike, but my mom and dad made it! It's so interesting to see how this arch sits on the edge of a big bowl of rock. It really is one of a kind.
The family under Delicate Arch.

I guess this is why it's called Delicate. Tons of rock (literally) balance on that relatively little joint on the side of the arch.

This area is called the Windows. We will definitely need to come back some day and explore more. We were running out of daylight when we saw it.

Beautiful Landscape Arch. See it before it's gone. A huge chunk fell off a few years ago and more could go any day. Tourist are no longer allowed underneath the arch.

Balancing Rock. The most prominent of the many balancing rocks in the park.

Southern Utah is one of the prettiest places on Earth!

A Hiking We Will Go...

Our last hurrah of the summer was to go backpacking in Naturalist Basin in the Uintahs. Krysta had to stay home and work, but the rest of us put on a pack and hiked 5 miles into our camp by a little lake called Gatman. We had a great secluded campsite off the trail and back in the trees by a meadow.

Of course, every time we saw a meadow, like the one in the background, someone had to recall the sad tale of Bambi. "There's hunters in the forest!...Run, Bambi! Run!" Way to ruin a bunch of beautiful meadows. We only saw Bambi once however.

The next day we hiked another 5 miles and visited a bunch of lakes. Here we are at Everman Lake.

Beautiful blue Jordan Lake.

Looking down at some unnamed pond. I don't think it's possible to visit all the many ponds and lakes in the Uintas.

This water flows out of Blue Lake,

which is at the top of this steep hill. I am looking down at one of the Mordt Lakes. This mountain is much steeper than it looks in the picture, and I am not a happy camper. Have I ever mentioned I hate heights and crumbly rocks that move? Here we have both.
But Curt held my hand (quite literally) and we all made it up to Blue Lake where we celebrated by throwing rocks into the water!

This is what you do after a long day of hiking.

Kevin packed this piece of equipment in. Yes, we were packbacking and not car camping. It doesn't make much difference to Kevin.

I have to admit, it was nice to sit in a real chair! Kevin wanted to balance it out by taking our blow up rowboat on the other side of his pack. He had some type of foot pump he was going to use to blow it up. However, it would have taken quite a while just to get the boat pumped up. Curt and I vetoed the idea. I wouldn't have cared it he brought it, but there was no way I was letting him row out on a lake without a lifejacket and bringing along 2-3 lifejackets for him and the girls along with the boat and a pump seemed a bit much. We would have looked all kinds of ridiculous going up the trail with lifejackets hanging off our packs. (Remember the deer cart on King's Peak? If you haven't heard that one kids, ask your parents.)

We did let Rachel bring her horse. Possibly the only stuffed horse to ever go backpacking. When we got to the trailhead, Rachel asked what she should do with her horse. I told her to leave it in the vehicle and it would be there when we got back. Her face crumpled and she started to cry. "I always sleep with a horse!" she wailed. It was then I realized she wanted to take it with her! If I had known that a few hours earlier, I would have helped her choose a smaller horse. Sherpa Kevin stuffed it in his pack and all was well.
Here we say good by to our temporary home. We did about 15 miles in all. Camille carried her own real pack and Rachel walked the whole distance.
Now you may think we backpack because we like the outdoors (we do) or we like to see things that not many people get to see (also true) or that it makes our kids appreciate their home much more (very true), but the real reason is...by the time we get around to planning a camping trip there are no reservations to be had anywhere! We don't need reservations to backpack. So there you have it, procrastination is our real motivation!