Moab Area Winter Wanderings, Day #2 Dec.29, 2013 NW of Moab

[roverrocks]

Spent Dec. 28/29, 2013 wandering in the beautiful snowclad mesas, canyon, and plateaus of SE Utah around the Moab area. Day #1 was spent coming from Thompson Springs southward to Arches NP via the Salt Valley and Tower Arch/Eye of the Whale 4x4 trails. Day #1 was cloudy with thick high cirrus clouds. Day #2 was a dead clear sky blue day with not an iota of wind. After staying at the nice Red Cliffs Lodge in Professor Valley along the Colorado River we headed back westward along scenic Highway 128 towards Moab/Highway 191. The river was frozen over partially and even fully a bit with a couple of Bald Eagles long the way that my wife noticed. Hitting Highway 191 we turned north about 10 miles where we turned off onto the unpaved Thornburg Road and proceeded to the base of the east face of beautiful Courthouse Rock. There we turned up and westward along a 4x4 trail leading up to and across Courthouse Pasture to massive Monitor and Merrimac Buttes. Then we proceeded around the north face of Merrimac Butte to the rim just above Wipe-Out Hill. Then northward with Big Mesa just to our west to the towering Determination Towers and then into Tusher Canyon where we went south up an isolated 4x4 route to Tusher Canyon's beginning past high sandstone walls and small buttes. Proceeding back northward down Tusher Canyon we reached the frozen icebound Tusher Creek which crackled under our tires. A way down the frozen creek we hit just frozen sand again and then headed westward along a fun winding 4x4 trail to Tusher Tunnel which leads a dark hundred yards through the sandstone to a sunlit view of snowy ledges and distant the La Sal Mountains to the SE. Then we headed along parts of the 3D Trail to Bartlett Wash where we headed westward up the Wash to the entrance down into beautiful snowy Hidden Valley with it's several 4x4 side trails among the sandstone walls on either side. Then we headed eastwards down the Hidden Valley Wash and took part of the Hidden Valley Rim 4x4 Trail which leads up to views down into Hidden Valley and views SE towards the distant La Sal Mountains. Then headed to Highway 191 via the Blue Hills Road and headed home. We did not see one single vehicle or person along the day long 4x4 route we took. Grand views and grand solitude with only an occasional passing contrail overhead. Had 1-3 inches of old frozen down snow plus bare south slopes along the way. All the remaining snow was deeply encrusted with large glittering frost crystals which I tried to photograph but had little luck capturing the glittering beauty. A good day for my wife and myself. Click on the pictures to enlarge them. Utah and Moab are highly recommended during the winter. The snow changes everything.

 

[roverrocks]

Moab Area Winter Wanderings Dec. 29 continued

More pictures. Click on pictures to enlarge.

 

[roverrocks]

Moab Area Winter Wanderings Dec. 29 continued

More pictures from NW of Moab. Click on pictures to enlarge.

 

[roverrocks]

Moab Area Winter Wanderings Dec. 29 continued

More pictures. Click on them to enlarge them.

 

[roverrocks]

Moab Area Winter Wanderings Dec. 29 continued

The last pictures. These are from the Hidden Valley Trail and from the top of the Hidden Valley Rim Trail. Click to enlarge.

 

[nickburt]

Some crackin' shots there. Envious - we have nothing like that here in the UK.