July Camping: Day Four Continued

 

After we finished in Four Corners, we took our trip north to Moab, Utah.  Arches National Monument was the last place on our "things to do" list.  We were hoping to get a campsite in the park but were told that most of the sites are taken online well before the date of arrival.  Meaning, if you don't reserve a spot in their 51 site campground months in advance, you don't stand a chance of finding a place to camp.

Oh well.  We did some of the easy hikes and had a great picnic dinner.

Kelsey's Jackrabbit

Kelsey found a jackrabbit enjoying the evening on our hike to see a lookout of Delicate Arch (across the canyon).  The rabbit just sat and watched all of the hikers go past.  On our return trip back to the truck, we noticed he'd had enough people watching and left his spot.  But I have to commend Kelsey for spotting it.  John took awhile to notice it.  Good eye, Kelsey!

Balanced Rock was a formation that puzzled the kids.  John couldn't understand who balanced the rock like that and if it was going to fall.  It was almost impossible to explain erosion and how the rock really isn't "balanced," it's part of the rock formation.  Well, this was one of those hikes that everyone decided they wanted to try to hike--even Joe.  But we carried him because the stairs were a little much for him at times.

  

Sand Dune Arch was our last one of the day.  Everyone had sand in their shoes (some a lot more than others) but they thought it was fun to wade through the sand.  We even got to see the bats out early as the sun was setting.  That made the kids even happier.

 We made it to Green River before we all tuckered out.  A stay in a hotel for one night was welcome.  We didn't have as much to pack up the next morning and got home before naptime.  The kids enjoyed the hikes and the camping, but I think they enjoyed getting home to their beds.  I think the adults did too.  Shower and clean clothes never felt so good!

July Camping Day Three & Part of Four

I am not quite sure why I didn't get very  many pictures of the stuff we saw on day three.  Oh wait, because they were mostly pit houses and John took a ton of pictures that didn't quite turn out.  We did find some ruins of houses that had been built on previous sites.  Meaning, people built a house, abandoned it, and fifty years later, someone else built on top of it.  It was pretty interesting.

  

We were still wondering "why?" but no one seems to know.  The kids quickly went through the houses and were mostly eager to ride the Wetherill Mesa tram.  They enjoyed the little bus ride through the remains of several forest fires.

This was the day we saw the famous Long House and had lunch at the top of the trail in a covered pavilion.  We didn't know what else to do for the rest of the day so we decided to go back to camp.  We arrived just before it started pouring.  The kids enjoyed watching a movie in the tent on the portable DVD system.  The rain stopped as the movie ended.  Good timing!

 

Well, in the morning, we packed up and headed for Four Corners. The kids didn't really understand the significance of the site and it took some encouragement for them to do anything other than stand around looking confused.  But that's another moment we may have to revisit when they're older.  For future knowledge, it cost us $3/person (for those 6+) to enter the monument.  Didn't know that when we started out.

And it was off to Arches for the rest of the afternoon.  We'll get to that in the next post.

July Camping: Day Two Part 3

So we did a lot on our first official day of sightseeing.  We saw a lot of stuff, mostly from overlooks.   But that's alright.  It got the kids pumped up and excited for all the walking they did.  They even were excited to go back the next day.  But that's another blog entry.

We saw some famous tour houses like Cliff Palace from overlooks.  We didn't do the mile or so trek out to see the Balcony house from an overlook.  That was nearing the end of our day and those who hadn't taken a nap (namely the adults) were a little pooped.  The kids were nearing the end of their interest as well.  So, we missed that one.  I guess we'll have to do a return trip when they're older and actually go through Balcony House.

One of the canyons we took pictures of had so many different cliff dwellings that every crevice in the south facing cracks seemed to have some sort of ruin in it.  It was amazing!  Some of them were pretty big too!  One had a large fire pit that the description said it might have been used as a gathering place rather than where people lived all of the time.  We dubbed it "Party Central."  It was pretty cool!

We briefly circled the Sun Temple and were amazed by the fact that the structure, although unfinished and never used (according to archaeologists), had water downspouts built into the walls.  So, when the rains came, they had a way to channel the water.  Pretty cool.  You can't tell me these guys didn't know much about "technology."

Anyway, it was pretty interesting.  We were left wondering, after seeing all of these cliff dwellings and pit houses, why someone would choose to live in cliffs and on the tops of mountains when there was a green valley just to the north.  Why?  Maybe we'll never know...but I'm sure intrigued.

Camping Trip: Day Two Part 2

Okay, so we saw Spruce Tree house and it was great!  We piled everyone back into the suburban and off we went to another set of sites.  It was time to do the Mesa Top Loop.  We noticed that the loop was going to be closed at 7 pm the very same evening.  What luck!  We were already planning to make the drive and see all the overlooks we could.

Well, that's when we noticed the two little boys had fallen asleep in the back seat.  Great!  They needed it!  Poor Joe was all tuckered out after his long "hike" in the toddler backpack.  Jack had a reason to be tired:  he hiked the steep 100 foot descent/ascent on the 1/2 mile trail.  He earned his nap.

Anyway, we stopped by several quick pithouses that the Pueblo people had used before their time in the famous cliffhouses.  Although somewhat impressive, the kids were not as interested in holes in the ground.  They skirted the covered pavilions with the houses in quick succession.

We did get to see Square Tower house from a lookout (see photo at top of post).  That was fun.  Macher and I traded off going to see the sites.  She'd see some with Bekah and then come back so I could take Kelsey and John to see the houses.  I think the older kids enjoyed running ahead to see the sites without having to worry about how slow Jack was going...or if Jack was going to stay on the trail.