A weekend at home during an atypical environment in Moab

Complaining about being stuck at home in Moab due to Utah’s “stay-at-home” order is akin to whining about only winning the regular lottery, not the Powerball. When spring rolls around, our weekends are typically spent anywhere but home. Given the current atypical environment, we’ve found ourselves venturing out into the eerily quiet desert landscape around Moab to camp, ride and hike. It’s given us a chance to rediscover why we moved here over fourteen years ago.

Moab’s tourist season, referred to by Moabites as “no-left-turn-season”, runs from roughly the middle of February to the end of November. Campgrounds, restaurants, grocery stores, trails, the river, even the tire shop, are jam packed every weekend and more often than not, during the week. Locals brave the crowds to ride, hike and float, but finding a remote campsite is almost impossible. With the town on lockdown, tumbleweeds lazily bouncing across Main Street, many locals are taking advantage of the respite to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for uncrowded spring recreation.

My favorite place in all of Moab isn’t in a national park, or out on some desolate BLM land – it’s Dead Horse Point State Park. One Friday, we loaded up the truck, threw bikes on the rack and headed up to the mesa for an overnight and a ride on the small but exceptional mountain bike trail system that is equal parts fun to ride and mind-blowingly gorgeous. The more popular eastern trails overlook beautiful canyon views toward the La Sal Mountains. On the western trails, various arms of handsomely rugged Shafer Canyon and distant views of the Henry Mountains dominate the vistas. We rode to the trails from camp, did a big loop encompassing every one of the trails and then rode back to camp for dinner and sunset. Including us, a total of two campsites were full.

The following day, we rolled out of bed late, devoured breakfast tacos and spent the morning lounging in camp chairs beneath the desert sun. Magazines were read, naps were had. When we finally rallied, sometime after noon, we drove the Gemini Bridges road to an intersection with the Mag 7 trails. It’s the perfect place to start a nice loop utilizing the Getaway trail for an easy ride uphill followed by a high speed, technical and incredibly scenic downhill on Bull Run that dropped us right back where we started. In two days and twenty two miles of riding we’d seen a total of zero other mountain bikers. With storm clouds building in the west we quickly loaded the bikes and headed out in search of a suitable campsite for the night. We followed several side roads until we discovered a shockingly level expanse of slickrock with a backdoor view of Monitor and Merrimac Buttes.

I ran around with my camera while my wife prepared dinner, hoping we’d be able to enjoy it outside but the storm was bearing down on us. Lightning crackled in blackening clouds as little drops of rain began to fall, followed shortly thereafter by an hour and a half long downpour. We crawled into bed and fell asleep to the sound of raindrops pinging off the aluminum roof.

Poking my head out the door on Sunday, I was thrilled to discover that all the little potholes were filled with rainwater. This could only mean one thing: reflections! I wandered around making more images before my wife, son and our adventure pug emerged from the camper. A big bowl of oatmeal filled with granola and a berry medley made for a quick and hearty meal to power the family through the day’s short hike.

Living in Moab and being as active as we are, there aren’t many trails we haven’t either hiked or ridden. Somehow, the trail to Gold Bar Arch had been right under our noses the entire time and yet we’d never explored it. With the national parks closed, it was an obvious choice. There’s no sign and no official trailhead – just a nondescript dirt pull-out on the side of the road across from the Colorado River. The trail climbs just over 1,000’ in about two miles and the elevation comes on so gently you never quite realize that you’re walking uphill. We passed a few other hikers, giving a wide berth to them in accordance with social distancing recommendations. Arriving at the arch, which nicely framed the snowcapped La Sal’s, I was shocked at its size. Much grander than I’d envisioned, it was something you’d expect to see protected in a national park, not at the end of an unimproved path. We enjoyed a quick snack and made it home with plenty of time to prepare for the week ahead. Laundry and dinner was followed by a shower and shave, and then we began plotting next weekend’s Moab escape.

Learn more about Four Wheel Campers by visiting www.fourwh.com.

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