Moab – Scenery and Fisher Towers

Sunday was an aggravating day.  We set out to ride south of Moab.  The wind had other ideas for us.  After giving it a shot, we decided what we were doing was stupid and not fun.  So we got in the truck.  We did drive up part of the La Sal Mountain Loop Road. It’s pretty spectacular up there.  It’s a 60 some odd mile drive, but right now the middle section is closed for paving.

Monday we mountain biked out at the Moab Brands trails.  We did the Bar-M loop.  That’s the trail that is suggested for families, and now for the faint of heart.  It’s been awhile since we’ve done any consistent riding on dirt, and our skill set has deteriorated.  Part of the Bar-M is dirt and much of it is rock.  Knowing that I have osteopenia, I still have the internal debate about whether mountain biking is actually fun.  There is relief what the ride is over and no one fell, but is relief actually fun?  The jury is still out on this. 

Today exceeded expectations.  The wind came up early enough that it was clear that there would be no riding.  We decided to go out to Fisher Towers.  The area was made famous by the Citi Bank commercial showing the young woman climbing Ancient Arts.  You can watch the commercial here.

The air was very unstable, and for awhile it looked like we were just going to have a very scenic drive.

Those are the towers on the right.

Ancient Arts is pretty much dead center in the photo. People climb up there, roped, and then rappel down.  It makes my hands sweat just thinking about it.

Look at the sky.  What do you think?  Will we get wet or not?  The wind was unbelievable, when we would come around an outside corner, it would make me take a step back.  The blowing sand was somewhat painful.

It’s just a stunning hike.

This is a very tall rock face. 

We’re guessing this is how people get down from the top.  There was a rope left in place with no one attached to it.

In the end, we were confronted by a ladder.  Between the force of the wind and the threat of rain and the fact that I really hate ladders, I bailed.  I think we were about eight tenths of a mile from the end, but I did not want to do the ladder.  Thinking about transitioning from the top rung to the ledge was not making me a happy camper. 

It was good that we turned around, we got rained on a little on the way back, and it was cold.  Did I mention the wind?  All in all it was a good experience and we saw a very pretty area.

We drove farther north on UT128.  If you do one thing in Moab, you need to drive this road.  It’s just spectacular.  You don’t have to go very far before the rocks change.  Here we have paler stripes.

Then it transitioned to lumpy greenish desert, with cows.  Why does the cow cross the road?

The same striped rock from the other side.  Picture quality was not great due to darkness from the clouds.

This is closer to Moab, we’re back in the red rock district.

One can take a jet boat on the river.  The occupants of the boat were wearing a lot of clothing.

Pretty amazing.

On the floor of the canyon, there exists the Red Cliffs Lodge.  They have 110 rooms, a winery, a tasting room and a huge restaurant.  If one wanted to vacation in style, I’d go there.  They offer horseback riding and off roading and, of course, a spa.