south for the holiday

Breaking with tradition, we decided to go to the desert for the long Christmas weekend.  We kept an nervous eye on the weather and drove down Saturday morning.  Many native Utahns I know won't go to Moab in the winter because of the sixty mile stretch between Spanish Fork and Price: a steep, winding road through a pass that is the only way over the mountain range.  Luckily, we only encountered one sketchy/icy section and by the time we were heading downhill from Soldier Summit (the high point on the drive), the road was clear and dry.  Milton didn't love the car ride - he gets very nervous and drooly, and got carsick before Soldier Summit; we made a note to not feed him so close to drive time next time.

Detail from mosaic bench at the Youth Garden Project

When we rolled in to Moab late morning, the difference from high season - which is now considered to be from March through November - was immediately noticeable.  There were hardly any cars on Main Street.  Like, people were crossing against the light and we could turn left immediately without waiting and waiting and waiting.  It wasn't completely deserted but it was great, with whole blocks of open sidewalk free and clear. 

Ranching relics along Mill Creek

The skies were blue and so we took a long walk around the neighborhood in the afternoon.  Milton was a little nervous at being in a new place so we did some exploring, finding Rotary Park alongside Mill Creek, near the approach road to the Sand Flats Recreation Area, crossing under Main Street via Moab's network of bike paths and checking out the Youth Garden Project near the high school.  There's a whole lot to Moab that we just haven't known about and we really enjoyed exploring.

The Colorado River

On Sunday, it was a little cloudy and cool to start.  It had gotten down to the 20s overnight - so much for being in the south!  We decided to head to the Colorado River to take a walk with Milt.  There is a bike path between the river and Route 128, which is the road to Castle Valley from Moab.  It runs for about 2.5 miles and there was quite literally no one on it when we were.  Quite a change from high season, I should think.  The river was calm, with ice building up along its banks.  We saw lots of tracks - fat bike, deer prints, dog prints, boot prints - but that was it.

H and M, river walking

After getting cleaned up, we walked Milton over to the Kokopelli Lodge to see Katy, the motel's proprietor and the head of Under Dog Rescue, which is where we got Milt.  We had texted her to let her know we were in town.  We paused for a quick photo op at Milton's namesake, Milt's Stop N Eat, and then spent a little time with Katy, her sweet dog Pearl, Des (dog adoption coordinator) and Des's sweet dog Paisley.  Milt was his own sweet self, a little nervous at first and then sitting up so everyone could rub his tummy.  By the time we left, he and Paisley were pawing at each other, ready to play.

It's Milt at Milt's!

We took Milton home - where he quickly made himself comfortable on the bed, of course - and then walked to Woody's for a couple of beers.  We knew they weren't going to be open on Christmas Eve and we wanted to make sure that we stopped in for a drink.  It's not really a trip to Moab without a beer at one of the last remaining Old Moab spots.

My boys heading out on the Pipe Dream trail

Christmas Eve was clear and sunny and, after a chilly (20s) start, warmed up to the high 40s.  In the sun, at least: the moment you stepped into the shade, the temperatures plummeted.  We did a couple of errands and then collected Milt for a short hike.

The LaSals

H discovered the Pipe Dream trail (mixed use MTB/hiking, please clean up after your dogs) on one of our maps, running up against the red cliffs on the south end of town.  The southern terminus has trailhead parking for the Hidden Valley hiking trail and the Pipe Dream trail, as well as the old gas Pipe Line double-track. 

Funky ice crystals

The Pipe Dream trail is about five miles long and technical - too technical for me to ride.  But I was happy to walk a good portion of it.  Milt was happy too: lots of critter tracks to sniff out and he even spotted a desert cottontail rabbit.  Very exciting!  Although there were several other cars in the trailhead parking lot, we didn't see anyone out on the trail itself.  Gotta love the off season.

Sun goes down early this time of year

We took Milt home and headed back out ourselves for Christmas Eve beers at Zax, one of the only places in town still open.  When we sat at the bar, we felt a little awkward since we were the only ones there.  But the server assured us that the place would fill up shortly and it did; our new friend Tom (originally from New Hampshire, whom we've talked with at Zax the last two times we were in town) even showed up and we bought him a Christmas beer.

Merry Christmas Eve

As with all our trips to Moab, this one had an expiration date and we had to drive back north on Christmas Day.  But not before H got out on his MTB for one last quick ride, the final one of 2018.  He rode up - and up and up - the road to the Slickrock Trail, then out a little ways on the slickrock.

Out on the Slickrock

We got on the road before 1 p.m. and the drive was quick and uneventful, except for poor little Milt getting carsick again.  [New note to selves for the next time: no food at all before car rides.]  Back at home before dark, we opened a bottle of champagne to go with our chili, and watched A Christmas Story.  Merry everything to all, and to all a good night!