Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, & Moab from Texas in only 5 days

AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
The original plan was NOT to go on vacation but instead to see family in Indiana. You see, my wife and I live in Houston, TX and it takes time and, more importantly, vacation days to see family on the other side of the nation from us. Since my parents decided (Dec 12th) they weren't going to Indiana (from Fort Worth) due to conflicting family interests there, we weren't going this year either. However, we already took the days off from work. So, with only one week out, we had to think fast. No matter what, we had Dec 23rd to Jan 2nd off from work. We also are in the process of “attempting” to save for a first house so we wanted to be as “cheap as possible”. Quotes are there because sometimes you just want to get away, no matter what.
So, after checking AirBnB (not a spokesperson) for places near the Grand Canyon, near Durango, and near Estes, we settled on Moab. There, you have Moab itself, Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley, La Sal Mountains… so much in one place. Plus, we have a new Jeep Rubicon that needs to see some dirt. I made a thread on here to gather some ideas quickly and helped.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/166513-Moab-Next-Week-(Dec-26th-30th)

After spending Christmas with the folks, we headed out Monday morning from Fort Worth, TX. 15-16 hours later we ended up in Moab. The next morning was a literal breath of fresh air. From 80-deg F in Texas to 14-deg F on the porch of our little rental home off Mill Creek Drive, we welcomed the next few days with open jacketed arms.

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Everyone I've talked to has said that if you're new or wondering about specific trails, then stop at visitor center. The gentleman there was extremely informative and seemed eager to help us have some fun there. We learned the best way to go into Arches NP, the old main road north of the current entrance, and sadly that the Shafer trail was closed due to snow, ice, and maintenance.

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I don't any pictures of the old main Arches entrance road because I was still in awe of this place and barely remembered to take any pictures. It wasn't extremely challenging but did require high clearance and probably 4wd. I drove the first part in 2wd but eventually had to put it in 4-high as there was a ~1-ft rock ledge we had to go up and I wasn't wanting to bump it in 2wd risking damage. We passed some cool dinosaur tracks and awesome mountain biking trails (although we didn't bring our bikes) before eventually popping into the park right in front of Balance Rock.

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My wife, Brittany, finally touched her first bit (small bit at that) of snow for the year. Sadly it'll probably be our only snow for the season.

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My goodness it is a Beautiful Park. We explored around and hiked up to Delicate Arch. The altitude was definitely an adjustment for us and we took our sweet time.

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Towards the end of the day in the park, we stumbled upon some mule deer near Devil's Garden who were quite intrigued by us, it seemed. We photo'd them for a while before we had to leave. The sun was setting and I didn't want to drive back through the park after dark (even though it was completely dark by the time we exited out the main entrance).

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That was mainly it from the first day. Since the sun sets by 5:30, the days are short. We went back to the little house, made some food and poured a couple drinks, and relaxed with an impossible puzzle and many blankets. If it was a bit warmer we'd have sat outside and looked at the stars (which were freaking everywhere) but 15 - 20-deg was a little low for us southerners.
 
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AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
Day 2

The next day we woke up early, cooked up some eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes and peppers in bacon grease and then packed up lunch and cameras headed for the famous White Rim Trail. We were originally going to take it from river, through the Potash farm and up Shafer Trail to Island in the Sky but part of that had to be canceled. So, we planned to drive up to the switch backs and then just turn around and take Long Canyon Rd up into Canyonlands NP.

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After our first stop, only a hundred yards or so off of highway 279, we stopped to take in what we thought were the best views we'd see (we were so wrong).
Next thing you know we stumbled upon some Big Horn Sheep near the Potash farm.

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As we were stopped gathering our bearings, we got passed by a group with a few FJ Cruisers and a good looking Rubicon and decided to follow behind their loaded up rigs. They were taking the full White Rim Trail for the next few days and let us follow them for the first fraction of it. This was one of our first times being in a remote area and we were glad to at least be able to see help in case we needed it.

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We took 142 toward the Shafer Trail.

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Since the switchbacks up to Island in the Sky were closed, we drove a bit further and stopped to take in the last of the White Rim Trail that we would see for this trip before turning back.

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When we eventually got back to 279, we drove a just little ways until we turned off for Long Canyon Road. This was our first real test of… um gut.

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My goodness... The visitor center rep didn't know much about this trail but said it was probably good to go since he hadn't received any alerts for it. It was nerve racking for us southerners (you know, us who never see snow) but in 4-low, our Jeep made it just fine. We didn't take any pictures of the most sketchy points as we were too busy worrying if we'd make it through or slide back or fall off the side of the cliff. We locked the axles hoping for grip no-matter-what and sure enough, made it through just fine. I'm like 99% certain we didn't need to lock the axles since we aired down a bit but, again, I didn't really know what I was doing but I knew we had the right rig for the job.

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We stopped for a quick break at one of the U-turn points to snap some pictures and to regain our composure as we could constantly feel all four tires fight for grip as they grabbed snow and mud over the rocks. The car was still reading only 36-F by this point (noon) but we were in the shadow now and I'm sure that was off at least a few degrees.

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AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
Eventually, we made it to Dead Horse State Park.

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Its interesting how much different the scenery/view is compared being down on that trail to being up here above it.

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We fueled ourselves up at possibly the best lunch spot ever and then continued on to Canyonlands NP.

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Finally we saw what the Shafer Trail looked like up top.. Even though there were track marks, I'm glad it was closed and we couldn't have attempted it. We'll wait for spring.

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We ventured out to Mesa Arch. So, as you hike over the final hill to see this arch, you're quite underwhelmed at first, at least we were. We were well within our day and it was about 3pm so we were getting tired from the days festivities. So far we had been off roading, further than we ever have and, at a time, more sketchy than we had ever expected. We stopped at Dead Horse State Park and ate lunch while sitting on the edge of the cliff but were still slowly wearing down. That is until we took a couple more steps toward the arch and realized how pretty it actually was. It's not large but then again, it is. The view through it though was awesome!

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We traveled on toward Upheaval Dome. Google Earth has an awesome view of this but in person, it's less exciting, at least to me. We were running out of time and only went to the first overlook point.

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We continued toward the grand overlook point and soaked it all in for a while. God has made some beautiful country and we were still only seeing a fraction of it.

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It was an awesome day but man the winter sun is brutal as it never rises above eye level. Well, that and it doesn't last long. I wish we could have done more outside of the car but time was limited.
 
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AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
The next day we went and wasted money at Hole 'n the Rock. I say wasted because, although it is cool, the whole place is comprised of gimmicky, chinsey, touristy doo-dahs.

After that, we finally did “Moab”. We only did Fins ‘N Things but it was more than enough for a stock Rubicon. Plus, it took us a few hours as we basically walked every obstacle (oh and we didn't take any alternate routes that I know of, whoo!).

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We scraped the bottom up nice a good but man was it fun.

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Here's a video link of us climbing a rock (Hey look this was our first time). lol

[video]http://vid1284.photobucket.com/albums/a572/NathanKrohn/Moab%20-%20Arches%20NP%20-%20Canyonlands%20NP/IMG_2362_zpsm9eq0wqh.mp4[/video]

After that, we grabbed lunch sitting on the cliff by the entrance booth and then went down and tootled the streets of downtown Moab looking at whatever shops were open before grabbing a beer (or a few more) at Moab Brewery.
Moab Brewery is a cool place but I somewhat expected it to be smaller and more dimly lit like a mountain tavern. The fries and beer-cheese sauce (queso-ish) though were awesome!
Eddie McStiffs was closed so we didn't get to try that place but we did manage to hit up Eklectic Cafe for breakfast one morning. Cool Environment!

We had a great time and Moab and the surrounding parks are such beautiful areas to visit. There was so much more to see and I wish we had more than three days but it was well worth the trip. Utah has amazing country and we're thankful we were able to visit it this winter.

We'll be back for sure and hopefully do the whole White Rim Trail over a few days with a few friends.
 
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mph

Expedition Leader
Looks like a stellar trip. I am spoiled living here...thanks for reminding me of that. Sometimes it takes an "outsider"...Hope you can make it back sometime:)
 

AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
Thanks y'all. It was a blast of a trip. Two full days of driving and three full days there. Fast but worth it.
 

DVD

Adventurer
You're fortunate to have a wife who enjoys this kind of adventure. The cold and snow is an added level of potential discomfort.
From another fortunate guy whose wife enjoys these trips :)

Looks like you had a great trip and saw some beautiful scenery.
 

AggieOE

Trying to escape the city
You're fortunate to have a wife who enjoys this kind of adventure. The cold and snow is an added level of potential discomfort.
From another fortunate guy whose wife enjoys these trips :)

Looks like you had a great trip and saw some beautiful scenery.

Very true! To add to it, she was actually feeling quite under the weather and was fighting off a cold most of the trip. She trooped up to Delicate Arch, runny nose and all.

Give us TX members some motivation to get out there!

It takes a lot of motivation considering the drive is so far! lol

Once out of Texas though, the drive is nice but the first 10+ hours from Houston can be brutal, especially when you've seen it a thousand times.

All the motivation I need though is knowing how clean and dry the air feels there as compared to here.
 

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