spring is springing, desert edition

H had to work on one of our recent Moab weekends (booooo), which meant Milton and I were on our own for a hike.  It was sunny and clear, but with temperatures in the low 60s, still cool in the shade or when the breeze picked up.  The area had gotten some good rain earlier in the week and that, coupled with the  pleasant early April weather, indicated that the Moab Rim trail would be a good option: although there's little shade, I figured we'd find some full potholes for the dog to enjoy.

Looking towards Poison Spider Mesa

There were several other cars in the lot when we pulled in - the Moab Rim and its adjacent, pedestrian-only Stairmaster trail are popular with locals for early morning workouts - although we only saw four people on our way up.  After the initial climb up the Stairmaster, which quickly got sweaty, even in the shade of the cliff wall, Milton and I continued out along the 4x4 trail.  While I didn't see any myself, there must have been rabbits because Milt was doing a lot of running.  He was good about checking in with me, however, and coming back when I called him.

These are the good kinds of potholes

At the intersection, we went right to do the loop portion counterclockwise; going the other way means having to hike UP Sand Hill and I wasn't anxious to do that.  Just before we got to Tire Test Hill, Milt did in fact find some full potholes - so full that when he jumped in, he went right over his head.  That brought a major case of the crazies once he'd gotten himself out - all this running on sandstone keeps his toenails short!

In the wash

As we were descending Sand Hill, I got a view up the wash.  It looked pretty in there so we turned right at the bottom of the hill (while the marked 4x4 road goes left).  Milton chased a very surprised critter up into a bowl, and then tried to roll in a really gnarly dead thing (skunk maybe, or juvenile badger or wolverine? It had mean-looking teeth and really long claws on its front paws) until I called him off it.  We kept going up the wasy until it ended at some pour-overs, where it was protected and pretty and retained enough moisture to grow some decently sized trees.  We retraced our way back to the 4x4 trail, noting another side canyon for future exploration.

Man, the color of that sky

Our walk out the wash back to the main trail was uneventful, although I did put Milt on his leash for a short section where we've seen coyotes before.  No sign of any large mammals this day, however.  We didn't even see any other people until we got back to the Z corner obstacle halfway down the Moab Rim ramp.  There were four jeeps above the big rock steps and another two side-by-sides figuring out their line below.  A little further down, we stopped to watch as four more jeeps navigated the Devil's Crack obstacle.  They gathered a small audience as several other hikers lingered to watch as well.  Once the jeeps were safely on their way, Milt and I finished up back at the car with dog food (him) and a beer (me), of course.

Spring desert blooms