passing showers

We woke up to the sound of pouring rain on the roof.  Milton had to be convinced to go out for a walk; we had to be convinced to take him out for a walk.  But after a couple of hours, the rain started to let up and we decided to drive along the Colorado River, looking for ephemeral waterfalls.  We first stopped at the boat launch on the far side of Route 128 and took a photo as evidence of the river level.  Hopefully that will rise as the mountain snow melts.

Not too high yet

Next, as the clouds were breaking up, we went down the Potash Road, which is usually a good spot to find waterfalls.  We were a little late and only found a couple still spilling over the cliffs.  H then had the idea to go see what the culvert across from the Gold Bar Campground looked like.  This is the culvert you have to walk through to get to the Jeep Arch hike.  We would not be walking through there today: there was a lot of water coursing out of the canyon and it was coming out fast.  There were three people from Colorado milling around disconsolately, having hoped to check out that hike; lucky for them, the Corona Arch trailhead was within shouting distance so they had options.

Culvert in action

As far as our options went, we decided to go up to Sand Flats and tromp around on the Slickrock Trail, figuring that there'd be plenty of rainwater for Milton to drink, plus we wouldn't get too wet or muddy with most of the trail being on rock.  Busy season has definitely begun in Moab - Easter Jeep Safari usually kicks that off - and there were lots of vehicles in the Slickrock parking lot, lots of MTBs and dirt bikes on the trail and lots of Jeeps and 4x4s on the adjacent Hell's Revenge trail.

I really like this tree

Although this meant that the winter's peace and quiet was shattered, it also meant that there was plenty of entertainment for us to watch, as the vehicles, both man- and motor-powered - crept up and down the sandstone domes.  There were a couple of trail runners out there too but for the most part, we were the only ones afoot.

Taking in the views

Both out on the trails and back at the parking lot, people were happy and friendly, glad to finally be breaking free of the long winter.  Us too.  I mean, we love winter but there has been a LOT of it this year.

Hike stats:  5.01 miles; 1:53 hours / 2.7 m.p.h. moving and 2:23 / 2.1 overall; 940' of elevation

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