Moab 2021 : Continuing A Thanksgiving Tradition
Taking a trip on the long Thanksgiving weekend has become a bit of a tradition for my wife and I. It started a few years ago with a camping trip to Moab, UT that included hiking, mountain biking, and getting engaged. Ever since we have made a point of traveling for the holiday weekend. Here is a quick recap of this years trip, and photos to tell this story.
We drove out Thanksgiving morning and set up camp, and went for a walk about in Moonflower Canyon. There used to be a campground here with a number of walk in sites lining the canyon walls. I’m assuming for sustainability reasons, the Bureau of Land Management shut it down and limited it to a large group site by the road. Campsites or not, it still one of the prettiest canyons in the area. During times of precipitation, the non-porous landscape creates a display of waterfalls crashing down the canyon walls running to the Colorado River. This visit however was dry, as you would expect for the desert.
Moon Flower Canyon
We camped at the Kings Bottom campground right along the Colorado River, west of town. It’s not hard to find a campsite with good views around Moab, but I like being near the river for the sunsets. The canyon walls and sky reflect off of the river making for amazing sunsets and pleasing views any other time of the day. Clear skies at night also made for some great astro-photography opportunities.
Daytime in the desert is the most pleasant in the late fall. The low sun and agreeable temperatures make for good hiking weather. We took a hike to Corona Arch, which is on the biggest arches outside of a national park. It is an impressively big arch reaching out of a sandstone wall like a giant arm. After the hike, we decided to drive further into the desert up Potash Road to soak in more views. As you get out of the tight canyon, into the wider White Rim Basin the views are breath taking in all directions.
Our last full day was spent on a shuttle served mountain bike ride, where a van drives you from town up to the La Sal Mountains, where there are a variety of routes that you can ride back to town. These are mostly downhill adventures that still provide an all day outing and, yet again, amazing views of the Moab Desert. The route we followed started on what is called the Whole Enchilada, but we opted for a detour called the Raptor Route that provides a more intermediate riding experience back to town. The beauty of this particular ride is the different ecosystems that are ridden through as you descend thousands of feet back to the desert floor. This was the first big shuttle ride my wife had ever done, and was thrilled when she said how much she enjoyed the entire thing.
Moab delivers every time. I cannot think of a trip where I didn’t leave more enamored with everything about it. I’m glad to share the experience with my wife, and that it is something we have made a tradition of. I am glad to be able to share it here as well.
