The weather cooperated - as did our work schedules - and we were able to get down to Moab by Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. First stop: Woody's, where we met up with a buddy and learned that the bar was not, in fact, going to lose their liquor license due to some arcane Utah regulation. We didn't find out exactly what happened but we were thankful that our local dive was keeping their doors open.
Thanksgiving morning (late morning, actually), we drove north of town to the Mill Canyon trails. We were heading for the Tusher Tunnel, a feature that I'd been wanting to check out for some time. There are apparently a couple ways to get to the actual tunnel trailhead, one via the Mill Canyon road and one via the Blue Hills road; since both those roads are technically jeep roads and we had the Subaru, we opted to park in the OHV lot and walk in along the Mill Canyon road. A couple of range cows, down to over-winter in the desert, watched us with a little interest.
When we got to the 3D/Monitor & Merrimac intersection, where we'd opted to turn left for the M&M in May, we this time followed this 3D section up the very sandy hill. The trail climbed to a ridge overlooking a very pretty wash, then dropped northwesterly into a different wash. The trail eventually rejoined a Mill Canyon jeep road spur which deposited us at the trail head parking area. There was fencing, signs and a visitors' log; several vehicles with slightly higher clearance than we had were already parked there.
A short trail from the parking area led to the Tusher Tunnel. It isn't a tunnel at all, but an arch-in-progress; in a couple of spots you can see some light overhead where the rock fins meet. I didn't know what to expect but it was really cool! Long enough, and with a slight bend so you can't see the exit from the entrance, but not so long that it was freaky - just a little ways in was enough to see the far end. And the view from the exit was spectacular: red stone levels and fins wrapping around in a bowl with a wash at the bottom and the snow-covered La Sal mountains in the distance.
We chatted with the folks already there - from Texas and huge dog fans: they wanted to know all about Milton and then showed us photos of their own dogs - and had a quick snack. Then, instead of retracing our steps through the tunnel, we made our way down into the wash and walked out that way until the wash crossed the 3D trail. I had hoped that it might be out of the wind not up on the ridge; it wasn't, but it definitely cut some distance off.
Hike stats: 8.59 miles; moving 2:09 hours/4.0 m.p.h. (fast!); overall 2:26/3.5; 720 feet of elevation.
Back home it was a low key Thanksgiving with Bloody Marys, shepherd's pie and chocolate chip cookies.
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