A Stellar Autumn Day in the La Sals

Moab, UT is one of those places with so much to do that our measly little 10 day stay will barely be enough to scratch the surface...we could easily spend a month or more here! With so many fantastic places to explore I'm already behind in posting, so I better get down to business.

First things first, in my last post I mentioned that our trucks "check engine" light came on. We were fortunate that the 200 miles we drove with it on ended up clearing the system. According to the dealer the engine needs four 50 mile cycles with no additional errors to clear any issue...YAY!

Moab has turned out to be a social stop for us so far. Our first evening we met up with the Red Rocks Gang who happened to be boondocking quite a ways south of Moab but needed to take care of business in town so we all rendezvoused at Moab Brewery. It's a Utah brewery so even though the beer didn't necessarily meet our high standards (we've all turned in to beer snobs!), the company more than made up for it!

Debbie, Bobbie, Mark, Suzanne, Lisa, Hans, Gayle, and Jim.
Surprisingly the only folks we have hiked with at this table are Mark and Bobbie...we must remedy that some day!

We also had the great pleasure of meeting up with Gay and Joe during their last few days at Portal RV Resort. We've been reading Gay's blog, Good Times Rollin', for ages and we made good use of our brief overlap, getting to know each other over dinners at each others homes. They are a wonderful couple full of good information about Moab having spent many months here and Jeeping all over the place. Silly me, I failed to get any photos, but we're looking forward to hooking up with them again in San Diego later this year.

Hans and I visited Moab back in 2007 on a 10 day road trip and we always knew we'd return, it's an outdoor enthusiasts red rock sandstone paradise. We've already visited Arches National Park twice since we arrived, but I admit I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed by the sensory overload that is Arches so instead I'll start my Moab posts with our foray into the local mountains to beat the heat and the crowds brought on by the Utah Education Association four-day school holiday.

The La Sal Mountains lie south east of Moab and rise to a high point of 12,721 feet, offering an easy access respite from the heat that blankets the valley below. After two days of hiking in 80+ degrees, we were ready for a break and an opportunity to see the last of the fall colors, the Squaw Springs Trail fit the bill.

Though most of the aspens had lost their leaves. small patches of yellow caught the eye as we walked.

Crisp blue skies provided lovely contrast to the brilliant white aspen.

Much of the trail took us through groves of gambel oak in lovely shades of yellow and orange.

In the distance we could see the dramatic canyons west of Moab.

Swaths of silvery leafless aspen and dark green conifers were dotted with the last yellow aspen leaves.

The landscape reminded me of a tapestry.

Looking back at the La Sals as we drove back to Moab. 

But the fun wasn't over yet, all the cows we'd seen on the drive up La Sal Pass Road were being moved to lower elevation grazing lands on our drive back down the mountain. Four cowpokes and three dogs herded several hundred cows along the road. We stopped for a while and watched the show as they completely blocked the way, then zig zagged our way through them once there was a bit of room to maneuver. A fitting end to our lovely day in the mountains!