Moab – Driving

I swear, if I had to live in Moab I would probably shoot me or someone else.  Yesterday, traffic south bound into Moab was backed up to Arches National Park.  There was a car show in town, and for reasons not apparent to me, the police had established not one, but TWO pinch points with their cars blocking a lane – requiring all cars to merge to one lane.  Getting to the grocery store for milk just took forever.  Today, this is what south bound looked like at the north end of town.  For the people who live here, it just has to be brutal.  Highway 191 is the only way through Moab, and it’s not going to get any better.

We elected to drive out the scenic and gorgeously beautiful UT128, and then make a right turn on to the La Sal Mountain Loop.  It’s closed after 16 miles for paving.  The DOT is not fooling around with the paving, they have taken the road bed down to dirt.  It’s a pretty drive, looking at the mountains.

The road splits, the mountain loop goes off towards the right (all directions are coming from Moab), and the left fork is the Dolores Triangle Safari Route.  I have no idea why it’s called that.  The road will take you to Gateway, CO if you are so inclined.  The road pitches steeply up and winds through the trees.

Coming back down the hill, you look into the lowlands of Moab.  It’s just a spectacular view.

After departing the moutain loop road, we drove back out toward Fisher Towers, since the sun was out today.

Is this not stunning?

Those are Fisher Towers on the right side of the photo.

It was a fun drive.  We were both a little tired, and decided that a day off from the hiking would be a good thing.