I heard about a Utah Dept. of Wildlife trip in Green River Utah to look for Big Horn Sheep, so I got together with a couple of brothers for a fun day-trip. We left Salt Lake early to meet in the John Wesley Powell Museum parking lot at 8 A.M. where we convoyed about 8 miles to a good dirt road called Hastings road that winds for 9 miles along the Green River. We saw Big Horn sheep high on the cliffs, and one much closer across the Green River. Even if you do not see Big Horn sheep, this is a cool area to explore and do some geocaching. One geocache will take you to an old cabin:
http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2A38M_nefertiti-cache and another will take you right to some very cool petroglyphs:
http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC2A38M_nefertiti-cache.
We then went to Ray's Tavern on Main Street for an amazing cheeseburger and fries. (That alone is worth the 3 hour drive!)
We then continued East on I 70 and then south on 191 to Arches National Park, about a 45 minute drive from Green River. Once you get to the Entrance and pay the fee or show your pass, it is another 45 minute drive to the well-marked trailhead. This turned out to be a great time of year to hike, with cooler temperatures, and not too many people. (The trailhead coordinates are N 38* 44'08.7" W 109* 31' 14.3") At the beginning of the trail you can explore the Wolfe Cabin, and some Ute Indian Petroglyphs. The trail is easy to follow, with stairs cut into the rock in a few places, but mostly just following cairns (stacked up rocks) across the slick rock. The entire trail is very scenic, with enough variety that you will be surprised at how quickly you arrive at this magnificent arch! There were people of all ages and degrees of fitness, some carrying infants. Sunset is a very fun time to be there, especially when there is a full moon, but be sure to bring a headlamp or flashlight for the hike back.
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| Big Horn sheep across the Green River |
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| The famous Delicate Arch |
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| Miles on new trekking poles: 18 |
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| View on the way down rom the arch |
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| Reflection of setting sun on creek |
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| Wolfe Ranch |
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| Stone cabin along Green River |
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| Petroglyphs at end of Hastings road |
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| View of Green River on way back into town. |
Looks fun. I am thinking I want to do a trip down to the Escalante area with Stockton this spring.
ReplyDeleteGreat trip! The "shortcut" out of the park was fun too! Thanks for putting it together.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like so much fun! I love that she picture, so amazing. I for sure want to do this as a day trip sometime soon!
ReplyDeleteNice pictures. When we hiked the arch it was dark on the way back but we hiked under the stars and it was really fun.
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