The Big Move

Okay!  After hemming and hawing for a couple months, we finally decided to make the big move to the buzzing metropolis of Green River, UT.  I'm still working at Goblin Valley and Jordan is still at Dead Horse Point, meaning we each have an hour commute each day in opposite directions.  Driving so much sucks, but after four years living in the middle of nowhere and two years dating long distance, it'll be nice to live in town together.  If there's one things I've learned about rural Utah it's this:  civilization is relative!

Honestly, Green River (pop. 973) is pretty dumpy.  It had its heyday as a military base back in the 1960-70s when it was an annex of the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range.  But when the base shut down, Green River almost turned into a ghost town.  The main street is lined with boarded-up businesses and the average yearly per-capita income hovers around $11,326.  There are a few hotels for the I-70 truck/tourist traffic, but most people push on after one night.

Of course, if you look hard enough, there are some great places in town.  You can grab burgers and beers at Ray's Tavern -- a river rat mecca.  The John Wesley Powell Museum tells the history of the famous explorer and the rivers he mapped. Our new house is right along the Green River Golf Course (as you can tell by the holes in the siding.)  Swasey's Beach is a great place for a lazy Sunday swim.  The grocery store finally carries tofu ...

beers at Ray's

Ghost Buster ambulance!

But honestly, Green River's real attractions start once you leave town.  Green River State Park is the put-in for the Labyrinth Canyon flatwater trip.  Up river, there's the Green River Daily whitewater stretch.  Green River is also a great hub to explore the northern San Rafael Swell and the Book Cliffs with loads of hiking, rock art, and mountain bike trails.  Moab is only an hour away.  I hope we don't end up in Green River forever and ever, but I think we'll have a good time while we're here.  :)

Green River from Nefertiti Rapid to Swasey's Beach

Labyrinth Canyon

Half Marathon!

AWWW MAN!  After months of training and hours of pounding pavement, we finished Moab's 'The Other Half' half marathon this Sunday!  Hells yeah!  My legs are jello right now, but I still feel like a TANK.  Awesome.

I've run two other half marathons before, but this has got to be the classiest and most professional.  The Other Half has it all -- great support staff, generous swag, and a route that takes you through some of the most scenic landscapes in Utah.  The course runs along the Colorado River on Highway 128 for 13.1 miles from Dewey Bridge to Sorrel River Ranch (check out the course map.)  The rockstar scenery glides by like a best-of-Moab checklist:  Fisher Towers, Castle Rock, and the La Sal Mountains.

starting line!

  
About 1500 runners were shuttled to Dewey Bride for the 8:30 AM start.  It was a classically gorgeous fall day -- mid-60s and sunny.  I definitely wasn't running to break any landspeed records, but I felt strong and solid.  Traffic was closed down along the road so we could relax and enjoy the scenery.  Aid stations every 2 miles were stocked with drinks, goos, and snacks.  The killer hill at mile 8 kicked my ass, but the Taiko Drummers at mile 12 were incredible.  Their beating drums were really motivating, and we picked up the pace as we ran the last downhill mile to the finish line.  

The finish was runner's heaven.  We were handed free beers from the Moab Brewery, then shuffled to the grass and zonked out to watch live music, raffle drawings, and the awards ceremony.  Perfect.  :)

Beers at the finish!

medal / bottle opener

ATVs to the Muddy River

Okay.  Most of the time, I do my due diligence as a tiny-car-driving, NPR-donating, vegetarian tree hugger.  But every so often, I get a touch of the redneck and start drooling over big tires, lift kits, and cowboy boots.  Today was definitely one of those days -- Megan, Jordan, and I borrowed two ATVs and a dirt bike and busted out from Goblin Valley towards the Muddy River.  Yeehaw!

in front of the San Rafael Reef

slippery Bentonite mud

The ride from Goblin Valley to the Muddy River is really easy as far as ATV routes go.  It's 28-miles round trip, and you can definitely drive it in a full-sized 4WD vehicle.  (A 2WD with high clearance might be able to make it, but you'd be clenching your cheeks over a couple parts!)  But what it lacks in technical challenge, it makes up for with great views.  You skirt the San Rafael Reef, ride down Wild Horse Wash, then coast through some gorgeous Bentonite Hills with Factory Butte looming in the background.  We had plans to cross the Muddy River, but the lowlands were a huge mud pit and we didn't want to get stuck.  On a good day, you can ford the river and make it all the way down to Swing Arm City, which turns the redneck factor up to 11!

Reneck extravaganza!

Factory Butte

Goblin's Lair Rappel

Embarrassing fact about me:  I almost never stay in Goblin Valley on my days off.  Of course it's a really cool park to work at and there are loads of places I haven't explored.  But for some reason, when my weekend rolls around I want to drive far, far away.  Maybe it's just hard for me to relax when I'm hiking around the park -- it's impossible for me to flip off the 'work' switch.  I start picking up litter, telling people not to carve their names into rocks, building cairns, etc. and suddenly I'm no longer having a relaxing weekend.  It feels like work.

Welcome to my office -- please take a seat!

But it's different when people are out visiting.  Newbies are seeing everything with a fresh perspective, and their enthusiasm is contagious.  It's nice to experience things again with a fresh set of eyes.  So for my sister Megan's last weekend out, we headed into Goblin Valley for a rappelling expedition into the Goblin's Lair.

78-foot free rappel! (See Megan?)

Goblin Valley has a handful of spooky/neat caves.  They're not really caves in the classic, limestone cavern sense, but they're snazzy little alcoves made of a Entrada Sandstone.  One of them is tall enough that you can do a 78-foot free rappel into it.  It looks like a huge gothic cathedral with soaring sandstone walls and weird goblin-y texture.  We recruited our rappelling guru Nathan, who hooked us up with harnesses and rope, and started our hike towards the back of the park.

hiking in

Not to mix business with pleasure, but Goblin Valley just set up a backcounty rappelling permit system this year, so make sure you stop by the Visitor Center to fill one out before you do any technical rappelling in the park.  They're free and unlimited -- we're just trying to gage use numbers and watch the resource impact.

Anyway, the top of the rappel route isn't marked, and it takes a little scrambling to find it.  A GPS and map definitely come in handy.  Climb-Utah.com has a great, detailed map and description of the route.  Once you get to the top, you'll see some webbing above a hole.  You put on your harness, hook in, scoot up to the edge, and eeeeease back into an alternate universe!  Getting over the lip of a rappel always makes me nervous, but once you're hanging, there's nothing to it.  Supercool.

going down ...

weeeeeee!

Luke's turn

Once everyone is down, you hike out to the back of the cave.  From there, you head north, hook up with the Carmel Canyon trail, and hit the parking lot.  Nice!

heading out of the Lair 

the hike back

Hidden Valley

For the next adventure with my sister, we took Megan on a 4-mile round trip day hike up to Hidden Valley.  This hike is close to Moab, and you get some great views of town and the Behind the Rocks area + some incredible rock art.

Anasazi rock art

switchbacks on the 700 ft. climb

To get to the trailhead, drive 3 miles south from Moab on U.S. 191 and turn right onto Angel Rock Road. After two blocks, turn right onto Rimrock Road and drive to parking area.

The trail takes you up some steep switchbacks to the top of the Moab Rim.  The trail is in great shape -- it's well marked and easy to follow.  After climbing around 700 feet, the hike levels out to Hidden Valley, which is pretty and grassy.  It's cool to look over the rim and see the town below.  Every time I've been there, it's been cold and shady, so if it's not summer, bring a jacket!

After hiking through the valley, the trail swings to the left and goes over a low pass.  You get some fantastic views of the Behind the Rocks area.  Best of all, the big butte on the right is coated with rock art.  Hop off the trail and skirt the bottom of the cliff to see loads of thousand-year-old petroglyph panels.  Both Anasazi and Fremont cultures overlapped here as they used this route to get into Spanish Valley.  Nice!  If you're feeling feisty and have a shuttle car, you can keep hiking to the Colorado River via the Moab Rim Trail.

looking out over Behind the Rocks area

Map credit:  http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab/recreation/hiking_trails/hidden_valley_trail.html

Dead Horse Point -- Intrepid Trail

My sister Megan is out visiting!  HOORAY!  I love this kid and we always have a superfun time together.  She's hanging out in Utah for the next 2 weeks and we're packing in the deserty adventures.  I have to work, but the other Goblin folks are doing a great job keeping her entertained (i.e. Blue John Canyon and loads of Rolling Rock.)  Good stuff.

Sister!

On my days off we oscillated between turbo-girly (bought a wedding dress!) and epic (mountain biking!)  We swiped Jordan's mountain bike and went up to Dead Horse Point's Intrepid Trail.  This was Meg's first time on a mountain bike, so I wanted to pick something fun and easy.  But I totally didn't need to worry about it -- this girl is a TANK.  It was her first time out, but she was totally fearless.  Awesome.

Sister = BOSS

To get to the trail, you drive into Dead Horse Point State Park, pay the $10 entrance fee, and find the trailhead near the Visitor Center.  The trail is well-marked with signs at the intersections.  It consists of three concentric loops -- the Intrepid Loop (1.1 miles,) Great Pyramid Loop (4.2 miles,) and Big Chief Loop (8 miles.)  The trail surface is mostly packed with magnesium chloride, which is great to ride on.  It also doesn't have many big uphill sections or tricky technical chunks.  There are a couple spots where we hopped off to walk, but not a big deal.  Nice.

Half of the trail hugs the cliff's edge, which is incredible.  It's not close enough to be sketchy, but you get expansive views of the red-rock desert and the La Sals mountains.  Pretty hard to beat.  :) 

<3

off-trail at the DHP lookout

Intrepid Mtb. Trail