Back Country Bonus – September 30, 2021

Well in advance of our trip we signed up for a 4 x 4 tour in Arches National Park and today was our day.

Our guide showed up in a 1997 Toyota 4 wheel drive SUV in less than pristine condition and it didn’t take long to realize why. Our tour was taking us on the original roads established by the family who owned the property before donating it to the government. We are talking dirt roads, and because of the recent rain, complete with deep ruts, mud, and deep water.

Our first stop was to see dinosaur tracks confirmed by the Smithsonian found in this back country. Based on the size and shape they actually can determine the size and type which is amazing to me.

Then we ran into 3 vans of dirt bikers with insufficient knowledge of driving these roads who had gotten themselves stuck in knee-high water and mud. Lucky for them, our guide’s second job is pulling people out of the mud on this road, so we spent about 30 minutes helping these guys. Our guide, Justin, is another interesting Covid story as a double-degree college graduate (Business Management and Chemical Engineering) whose job disappeared before his first day of work. He decided to take his savings and travel and when he arrived in Moab, he decided to stay and train as a guide. Needless to say, his education lent a great deal to his ability to explain all the origins of the mountains and their current status.

After the rescue, the fun began. This is where we started the “rock crawl” where you literally crawl slowly up and down large rocks over roads marked only by tracks from other 4 x 4 vehicles. In fact, the only wildlife we saw during the 4.5 hour tour was a handful of Rubicons in various colors.

Justin took us to see arches you would never see except in this back country including Tower Arch and Whale’s eye.

by the way, Justin identified my “fake” plant as Desert Rhubarb which actually grows a fruit just like regular rhubarb.