snow in the desert, part one

 We were in Moab for the MLK, Jr. Day long weekend.  Every time we go down in the winter, we are surprised at how cold it is, although we shouldn't be since the town's elevation is practically the same as Salt Lake City's.  This time we were also surprised at how much snow we found, once we got out of town.

Gorgeous winter day, not a soul in sight

I had found a new hike to do Saturday morning in the Gemini Bridges area.  But as we turned off paved Rte. 313 onto the Gemini Bridges road, we had second thoughts: the dirt road was well-caked with snow, more than we expected, and as the sun was out, we could see it already starting to melt.  Envisioning getting the little Subaru stuck in half-frozen mud out in the middle of nowhere, we prudently turned around, saving this new hike for later in the spring when the roads are dry.

The boys

We ended up parking at the Monitor & Merrimac viewpoint, crossing 313 and getting on the 7-Up trail.  We've MTBed this trail a couple times before and both times remarked that it would be a good winter hike for Milton.  Once we were far enough below the road, we loosed him from his leash and he got his crazy on.

Milton-prints

On foot, this was very easy hiking, gently climbing all the way out with good footing and following the MTB trail/old double-track.  Our boots got soaked with all the snow but with the sun shining, the temperatures were extremely pleasant.  We had it all to ourselves too; there were old footprints right at the beginning but we went out much further than those people had gone.

Well-marked with flap poles at intersections

There were lots of animal tracks too - birds and rabbits and squirrels and tiny critters and coyotes - and Milton seemed determined to follow all of them.  As usual, he completely overdid it: on our way back, he started walking behind H for small stretches (he never does that - he likes to be in front) and when we were walking back up 313 to the car, we were the ones pulling him on the leash (instead of the other way around).  He took a power nap on the tarmac back at the car, not even lifting his head as other cars drove in.  "Is your dog alive?" one lady asked.  He did lift his head at that.

There is NOT much snow in the La Sals

He managed to rally for a few minutes when a woman with her dog, Mesa, rescued two months ago from an Arizona reservation, stopped to say hi.  Mesa greeted Milton politely but was shy around us, preferring to chase her ball.  Milt, who is afraid of balls and doesn't know how to play with toys, just sat and watched her, trying to figure it all out.  When we got home, though, he went straight to bed and crashed until dinner time.  Gotta rest up for the next hike!

Hike stats: 7.17 miles; moving time 2:31 / speed 2.8 m.p.h.; overall 2:43 / 2.6; 630 feet of elevation