pleasant little jaunt

Milton had a vet appointment scheduled for Monday (teeth cleaning and removal of a small lipoma on his right rear leg - all went well and he is nearly all recovered, just mostly annoyed at having antibiotics shoved down his throat twice daily and having to wear a cone for two weeks), and we had to go back to SLC on Tuesday, so our best bet for a hike was Sunday.  It was another beautiful day - not cloudy, as forecast - so we three loaded up in the truck and headed out of town, down the Potash Road to Culvert Canyon/Jeep Arch.  We didn't get the earliest start, lingering over Dave's coffee and waiting for it to warm up, but there were only a couple of cars there ahead of us.

Local humor at Dave's Corner Market

H and I had both opted to wear shorts, despite the temperatures being in the 40s (high 40s), and within fifteen minutes both of us had shed our long sleeved outer layers; with the strong sunshine, 40s/50s is super pleasant in the desert.  We did our regular route, opting for the left hand veer of the loop, so we would come to the arch clockwise.

H going into the light

When Jeep Arch was in view, we did see a couple of people silhouetted beneath the arch, but they had moved on by the time we got there.  We didn't linger, continuing around the loop, and then dropping into the canyon wash when we were able.  

That one pop of yellow

It was like we were the only people on earth, making our way down the wash.  There was enough water in spots that Milton could wade, although the pools looked pretty stagnant.  (He didn't care.)  There were a number more cars at the trailhead when we exited the culvert, but our people-free experience just proves that earlier is better if you don't want crowds.  Hike stats: just under 4 miles, which is always shorter than I think.

Looking back from whence we came

On the way back, we pulled over along Wall Street so we could watch the rock climbers while we had surreptitious post-hike beers and snacks.  There were all kinds of people there: college kids, families with kids, 30-somethings, tourists taking photos of the rock art and a 70+ year old trail runner who'd won his age group in Saturday's trail marathon.

That hole was the size of a quarter

Gorgeous day, no notes.