Outdoor Adventures In Utah!

Kenny and I have had some marvelous early fall adventures in the rugged wilderness of Utah, and it's about time the pictures go up on my blog. We first went to Squaw Peak with Megan, Karl, and the Taylor girls to enjoy the fall colors in the mountains. Megan was loath to get out of the car and view the dizzying heights from atop a windy and precarious overlook of Utah Valley, but we all managed to sally forth and bask in the hazy sunshine and incredible view. Well, except Tamsin - she snoozed the entire time in her carseat.

Squaw Peak looking toward Southeast Provo and BYU:



Fall color in the mountains:



Basking in such a brilliant autumn day:



Once we had wended our way back down the mountains and into the valley, Kenny and I decided to amend our egregious oversight of never having visited Bingham Canyon Mine at Kennecott Copper, the most productive mine in the world and the largest manmade excavation on the globe, located across the valley from Megan and Karl's house. It was mind-boggling to look out on the utterly vast expanse of human ingenuity and persistence. The mine is 2.75 miles wide and .75 miles deep, so you could stack two Empire State Buildings one on top of the other and not reach the rim. Because it is so wide, the depth of Bingham Canyon Mine is hard to appreciate accurately, but seeing the massive trucks that scoop and haul the ore in contrast to a normal pickup truck gave us some idea of the scope of the mine.

Bingham Canyon Mine:



An actual tire from one of the ore-hauling trucks:



Can't...quite...reach...



A miner next to the truck. It is about the size of an average two-story house:



We got a lucky glimpse of a pickup truck (right) passing a truck on a road deep in the mine:



And....

The big trip to Moab!

Kenny and I were listening to a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland about the faith of the pioneers who settled areas around Moab, Utah, at Stake Conference and I mentioned that it I have never been to Moab and would like to see it. "Well, why not?" Kenny asked, and hopped onto his computer to plan a trip. He found a guided tour of a place called the Fiery Furnace and made reservations, then worked further magic and discovered a hostel where we could stay for just over $30 a night! (We found to our chagrin a few days later that the hostel private cabins were all booked, but Ken pulled another voodoo move and snagged a cancellation the day before we headed down to Moab - woo hoo!). We drove down Friday night in absolutely awful General Conference/mission reunion weekend and arrived in the gorgeous and vacation-y town of Moab around 10:45 pm.

I had to laugh - we couldn't find the hostel, even after driving up and down the highway in near pitch dark craning our necks. That is, until I noticed a lizard on a large sign hidden in the trees behind a storage unit area. We pulled gingerly onto the dirt road that wound behind several ominous, shadowy storage units to find a jumble of campers, cars, and lackadaisically-lounging travelers amid the trees. Cats roamed the side of the hill and everything looked Portland, Oregon-ish. Kenny took one look at the very nice gentleman behind the desk and blanched - whatever had caused the scars and scabs on his face, he hoped against hope that it wasn't something the guy caught at the hostel. We made our dubious way to our cabin, conveniently located next to the shared bathroom, and hoped the one we were trying to unlock and enter was indeed number 10. We pushed the door open and flipped on the light (thank heavens for electricity) and were pleasantly surprised - the cabin was spotless and spacious! We settled in, exhausted, and scrunched under the covers in search of sleep - only after I balked at getting up at 7:00 am and Ken refused to spend all morning sleeping, and we agreed on a 7:30 wake-up time. I acquiesced without too much of a fight - after all, I don't want to be Thriller #2!*

The cozy, spotless cabin:



What it looked like in the morning - and look! A welcome mat and comfy outdoor seating!



And how conveniently located - right next to the showers.



Saturday morning dawned gorgeous and cool - we enjoyed a nice, hot, clean shower apiece in the men's and women's bathrooms, I was stalked by a black furry denizen of the hostel who looked at me when I scolded him gently for following me into the women's bathroom, then mewed, and then we hit the road to look for a breakfast spot right on time. We dined on eggs benedict and steamers under a quaint and quirky outdoor tent in the back of the Jailhouse Cafe, a delicious culinary niche on the main street in Moab, then adventured into the vast and awe-inspiring Arches National Park.

Our breakfast spot:



And the outdoor seating - how delightful!



Arches National Park:

How does this sort of formation even happen?



Park Avenue:





A cool vista:



Balanced Rock - the type of rock at the bottom wears away faster under the effects of weather and time than does the rock perched at the top, thus creating "Balanced Rock." Someday the bottom will give way enough that Balanced Rock will topple off and become another fixture of the ground. Can you imagine experiencing that geological change?



Holy heck, that's cool!



Can you spot the lizard?



Ken is inspired to build his own "Balanced Rock":





My very own arch!



Other cool arches:



The North Window (one of my favorite arches):



Hiking up to the North Window:







Looking straight up. I hope those rocks in the crevices stay there.



As close as we could get to Delicate Arch (the most iconic arch of Utah) without taking a three-mile hike:



Look! There it is! Not where I expected it would be, but cool nonetheless:



The Fiery Furnace:



Yup, we are going to hike that.



Heading into the Fiery Furnace. It is actually cooler than the surrounding area, as most of it is in the shade of high cliffs and narrow canyon passages. The name comes from the brilliant reds and oranges of the sandstone cliffs in the sunlight.



A blasted tree with searching roots:



One of my favorite areas of the hike - we found a little grotto after passing through a quaint arch:



The hidden grotto:



Our guide, Ranger Dick. I thought, "Oh, good - he's not, like, 30 years old. I can keep up with him!" That guy was half mountain goat!



Proof for my family that I hike:



Beautiful rock formations:



Scrambling up narrow ledges:



Skull Arch:



My tree surviving in the desert:



Walking along a very steep edge:



Hiking maniac:



A cool jutting rock formation:



Another cool gathering place for our group:



Kenny's tree surviving in the desert:



Cool viewpoint near the end of our adventure:



Heading into a narrow crevice:



Not a flattering angle, but it shows the precarious path we climbed:



They weren't kidding about intensely small spaces:



A hidden arch, aptly called "Surprise Arch":



Can you imagine being here when that gigantic rock first fell over?



A triumphant look back at the Fiery Furnace, conquered!



* Editor's note: My mom is known as "Thriller" for her penchant for sleeping in on such vacations as, say, going to Disneyland. Who wants to sleep in when DISNEYLAND is right down the street?!