2014 Trip to Moab -- The Epilogue

On Sunday, July 13, we returned from our drive along Scenic Route 128, what the locals call the River Road, and looked for a place for dinner.  Moab is a very touristy place and there are lots of interesting restaurants.  We chose one with seating along the sidewalk.  This would not normally be noteworthy, but it was 102 degrees in the shade.  However they had a mister, which significantly dropped the temperature in the dry air of southeastern Utah.

We then did some exploring of a few of the shops along Main Street.  The Frog got a couple of original Red Dirt Shirts...dyed using only real red dirt!  We also found an interesting book about movie making in the southwest, Cinema Southwest, at a local gift shop.  We had an interesting discussion with the owner who has lived in Moab since the 1960's.  He bemoaned some of the more dangerous activities, such as those doing rope swinging off of Corona Arch, but he did appreciate the effort being made to bring groups to Moab over what is now a very long season (March - November).

We started the trek home on Monday morning.  We decided to go back through southern Colorado.  This was a stretch of highway through the mountains we had never traveled before.  The trip was uneventful except for having to outrun an ugly looking thunderstorm that was coming south towards us as we turned south onto I-25 at Walsenburg, CO.  The storm followed us essentially all the way until we turned further east towards our stopping place for the night, Dumas, TX.  Noteworthy in all of that was our ability to watch the storm in real time on the radar on the Frog's iPad as we made our way along the highway.  Geekiness has its advantages.

Another interesting thing, besides the very nice scenery in the mountains, was the sighting of a black bear near Wolf Creek Pass, the high mountain pass at the Continental Divide.  We saw a lot of cars stopped on both sides of the road and assumed there had been an accident.  It was only after we were already past that we saw everyone with there cameras pointed at a bear that was nonchalantly eating.  I only wonder what happened to the man we saw approaching with his two small dachshunds on leashes. 

From Dumas it was an easy trip home.  We made it by early afternoon on Tuesday.

This was a great trip, as most trips are.  However, I had a greater sense of additional things we could see and do if we were to return compared to most trips.  I am anxious to learn more about the geology of the region.  We saw many different things during this trip, but the the underlying theme seemed to be the geology of the region. 

Whether self-study or some future online MOOC, I think we are both interested in learning more about the geology of the Colorado Plateau.  Since the following map is from the May 2005 issue of National Geographic, I need to find that issue in our now online archive.

Map of Colorado Plateau from May 2005 National Geographic

With multiple additional national parks in the area, maybe we can make a return trip to the region some time in the not too distance future.  I don't know if a multi-day backcountry jeep trip would ever be in our future, but I am putting this link to the White Rim Trail around Canyonlands National Park so I can at least easily find it and drool over the pictures.