A couple of friends, Erica and Kylie, joined us (safely distanced and/or masked as necessary) for the last bit of our vacation week. On Saturday morning, after breakfast and coffee, we headed out to hike Jeep Arch, which they didn't know about. The day was sunny, completely clear and warm. There were already numerous vehicles at the trailhead by the time we pulled in - although only a fraction of what was parked at the Corona Arch trailhead - but, amazingly, we timed it just right to have the arch to ourselves.
We did the loop portion clockwise. I think that's a better way to go as the steepest bit is short, plus you actually can get some shade on the final uphill approach (if you go in the morning). Erica and Kylie are rock climbers and they were eyeing the hardware left in the slabs with interest. On our way out, we picked up the fainter trail leading down into the wash. E and K really liked this section: mostly shaded and some scrambling required. We passed a dude out scouting locations and light to shoot an indie music video, then made our way back through the culvert to the truck.
Our stomachs were all growling at this point and H had the fantastic idea of having lunch in Middle Earth (this Middle Earth, not the Navajo Rocks trail), figuring it would be shady in there. Once again, our timing was perfect as we passed a family coming out as we were heading in with our cooler. We had the whole grotto to ourselves as we hydrated with beer and munched our sandwiches.
That evening, we met up with another friend who was in town, off-roading with his family and friends. They all had their trailers circled up at the Old Spanish Trail Arena, just south of Moab. It was kind of a weird spot for camping - they had made reservations for the group site almost a year ago - but there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out, distanced safely around the campfire.
The next morning, Erica and Kylie hit the road early, heading back to SLC. We dithered around for a little while, then decided that we didn't know what traffic would be like and maybe we should think about heading north ourselves. We cleaned and packed and then went up to the Millcreek overlook for a quick walk (just over an hour) for Milton to burn off some energy. There were a few other folks there as well with their dogs but not many. It seemed like everyone else was queuing up to get into the Sand Flats Recreation Area - we could see the huge line of jeeps and 4x4s winding its way up the hill above us.
After our walk, as the clouds rolled in, we loaded up and got on our way, stopping at Ray's in Green River for lunch. As we continued up Highway 6, the storm that was at that moment delivering to Alta its first snow of the season brought clouds, high winds, blowing sand and rain sprinkles to us. We soon enough drove out of it, however, and even though we had left our vacation a little earlier than we had intended, with the fast weather change, wrapping things up seemed like the right thing to do.
Hike stats: 5.56 miles; 2:28 time; 2.2 m.p.h. average speed
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