Day 29: When in Utah...

Breakfast at Sunflower Hill Inn in Moab was a real treat. They really splurged on the different options. Each guest was able to preorder from a long list of items such as yoghurt, granola, smoothies, bagels, salmon, and eggs. They even had homemade quiches and muffins!

One of the guests we had spoken to at the BnB had recommended a couple of must-see famous places within Arches Park. So, of course, we couldn't miss them.

Arches National Park

BALANCED ROCK

We drove to the park and made our way to the first attraction: Balanced Rock. This huge rock formation looks like it was defying gravity by balancing a large boulder on just a thin piece of rock. Ronit of course jumped to help and has now found a new calling, holding the boulder in place. 😉

DOUBLE ARCH

The second spot we went to was called Double Arch, which is aptly named. It looks exactly how you'd imagine, with one small archway formed of rock inside a larger archway. In order to get to this landmark there was some major climbing skills required, and it really sapped away our energy by the end.

FIERY FURNACE

Two landmarks down, and one to go, we were headed to the final spot, Fiery Furnace. As Ronit would tell it, what seemed like a straightforward expedition turned into an ordeal. We arrived at the start of the trail, ready to hike, feeling prepared with our permit, water bottles and everything else we needed. However, at the entrance, the Ranger asked for our hard-copy permit, which of course in this digital age we don't have. We explained as much saying we could show him the email copy of said permit on our phones.

You'd think that would be the end of it, but unfortunately, the ranger told us that the only way to go in is to get the paper copy of the permit. How does one get a paper copy, you might ask? Well, by driving back to the visitor center a 30-minute drive back the way we came to the entrance of the park. No, we're not kidding.

Of course, we asked the Ranger "Really???" and he replied in a very firm voice "Go pick it up". We were unsure of course, wondering if it was worth the effort to drive all the way back especially considering the time constraints we had to achieve everything we wanted today. Seeing our hesitation, the ranger said again "Go pick it up. you paid for it and you should go and get it", followed by a very firm "This is the highlight of the trip - go pick it up!". Ronit said she couldn't get the sentence "Go pick it up" out of her head for the rest of the day. 😂

To be fair, the young ranger was not trying to be mean, he was just trying to relay that it is a beautiful area and worth going the ways to pick up the permit. We started to drive all the way back and decided if the drive back to the visitor center took around 15 minutes then we would pick up the permit and do a quick hike at Fiery Furnace. In the end, however, it took almost the full 30 minutes and once we arrived we discovered we'd need to wait for a bit and then watch a special video before we'd be allowed to go back to the hike. We gave up at this point and decided we'd just have to do an IN-COM trip here for our annual company fun getaway trip.

Wilson Arch

On our way out, just outside of the park's area, we discovered a marvellous off-the-beaten-path trail. It seems hardly anyone knows about it because there were very few people around. The only caveat was that it was truly a climb! You best be sure you are in shape before trying to make your way up here.

Climbing up to this arch really gave us a boost in morale though, after the fiery furnace flop. It was an incredible formation with wide-open views of the surrounding area. Hard to beat!

Twin Rocks

We weren't done looking at rocks. There were just too many cool rocks to go around in the area. So we discovered another remarkable icon that anyone can visit without having to enter a national park. The Twin Rocks Trading Post, also known as the Navah Twins, is just off the road and a short drive on the highway. These two giant rocks look like two people kissing from certain angles. Once we found the right viewpoint, Ronit and I decided to have a "When in Rome (Utah?)..." moment if you know what I mean. 😉

There was a trading post nearby that we walked to for a quick bathroom break not realizing that the area had an interesting historical significance. At the trading post, we learned that this area was initially settled by a very determined group of Mormon Pioneers.

The story goes like this, in 1879, a group of Mormons who wanted to establish a new colony in a remote area to the east of the Colorado River began their journey. A small group went ahead to find and prepare a way to cross Glen Canyon and the Colorado River. They saw a tempting route through a narrow crevice that allowed a descent into the canyon and, naming it Hole-in-the-Rock they worked months to widen it so that the group of wagons could get through.

The main expedition arrived and went through the hole in the rock and made the descent to the river. The steep climb down meant 10-20 men had to hold ropes tied to the wagons to keep them from picking up speed and crashing to their deaths. They made it down and next had to build a wooden ferry to cross the river. However, the peril didn't end there. They found even more difficult on the other side of the river in the form of a maze of canyons, mesas and cliffs making the area nearly I'mpassible. Somehow, after 6 months, what is now referred to as the San Juan Expedition, managed to survive the journey through insane ingenuity and determination and managed to settle and found the community of Bluff.

This story really resonated with us after seeing, breathing and experiencing this extremely difficult and rugged terrain. We found it absolutely mind-boggling to imagine 250 men, women and children, 150 years ago, travelling only in wagons, and surviving this landscape for months on end. I think if you had that many people do the same thing with Jeeps today they would have a hard time accomplishing the same feat.

Goosenecks State Park

We had already visited two national parks and seen many sights that blew our minds, but we weren't done yet! We pulled into a small park called Goosenecks State Park, not expecting it would be able to compete with what we had already seen that day.

How wrong we were! This place was definitely an eye-opener. Ronit and I gave each other one look and high-fived each other. We had been up in the air about stopping here, but boy were we glad we decided to in the end.

Mother Nature did it again! The scale, the beauty! We tried our bests to try and capture the scene to share with you, but you really must go here yourself to really understand. You won't be disappointed, we promise!

Mexican Hat

Another iconic structure that Ronit found for us not far off the road was the Mexican Hat formation.

The trail on the way there was absolutely incredible, with the mountains around us looking like those sand bottles that kids make with different layers of sand colors.

The only problem was the road got quite rough and we had to stop partway. Ronit promised we would come back with a Jeep! She is happy we were able to get as close as we did in our champ, Steele. He's trying, guys!

I realized as we were driving that as this is the desert, I had not seen any water sources for a while. No lakes, no rivers, so when a large body of water presented itself we had to take the opportunity! We drove down to the San Juan River to the lowest possible spot and snapped some photos.

Forrest Gump Road

We were driving along again when all of a sudden there were many signs indicating that we watch out for pedestrians...on the highway... What?? Well, the reason became clear when we realized we were driving on "Forrest Gump Point", the road where the Forrest Gump scene of the long walk was filmed. We could see people stopping in the middle of the road to take photos, so we...can you guess?... had another "When in Utah" moment.

This is where we met Luis and Dulce, a couple travelling on a monster Harley Davidson motorcycle from LA to Chicago! The journey was set to take 14 days, and Luis told me that so far on their journey the most beautiful place they had visited with Oatman Valley, Arizona.

We also met Christian and Claudia from Switzerland at the same time. They both had had a break from work and decided to do a family trip in a huge RV and drive from Denver to San Francisco. We all stopped on the Forrest Gump road and took pictures for one another. BON VOYAGE to Luis, Dulce, Christian and Claudia.

Gouldings Lodge

After a long journey, we made it to our hotel, The Gouldings Lodge. We got ourselves a great room with a great view. Really though, the view was absolutely incredible!

The hotel was one of only two hotels in the Monuments Valley Park area. I loved how the hotel building materials and colors really blended in with its environment, making it feel like it was one with its surroundings.

Monument Valley Park

We had enough daylight left to check out Monument Valley Park before bedtime. Until this point, we had not experienced any wait times to get into any of the national parks, despite it being peak season and schools already being out. Sadly, our luck ended here, and we had to wait an obscene amount of time... There were 5 whole cars in front of us!!! Shocked and appalled about the 2-minute wait, honestly. 🤪

Once inside, we began the 19-mile loop to visit the sites. At first, Ronit was concerned I had taken a wrong turn somewhere as the path had become extremely rocky and jagged. I consulted with the GPS map that Steele has, and also so the other 5 vehicles going down the same path, and determined it was the correct way.

The ninteen miles of obstacle course did however lead us to some great spots with great views. You can see even more of the photos we took in the photo gallery, of course. The drive took a while to complete because of the rough terrain and the fact that the speed limit was capped at 15 MPH (rightfully so). Even that seemed too fast, as most of the drivers here seemed to be unfamiliar with such poor conditions and ended up driving at a respectable 5 MPH.

Dinner at the one, the only, local restaurant

Do you know what the benefit of owning the ONLY restaurant in the area for miles around is? Do you know what the benefit of serving people only one time in their lives because they are just tourists passing through is?

Well, the answer if you haven't guessed yet is that you don't need to strive for repeat customers...meaning the quality of food and reputation are secondary concerns. As you can tell, we found the evening's meal and service quite mediocre. Needless to say, it was no "Desert Bistro".

Hoping for better grub tomorrow. Until then, signing off.

-Shlomo & Ronit