Arches not on the license plate

“Whoa!” the fourth graders exclaim when they first see Delicate Arch during our field trip. Less than half of them have been here before though most have grown up in Moab. This is also the longest many of them have ever hiked. As they have their snack, I ask them why they think Delicate Arch is on the Utah license plate and why they think other major arches like Double Arch or Landscape Arch weren’t chosen.

Not on the license plate either. Instead, this is an arch I saw this weekend.

As they consider Delicate Arch, some students point out how one side is thinner than the other. Others say that it seems to rise up from the surrounding rock and that's what makes it special.

I agree that those are unique features of Delicate Arch. But I wonder why this arch is the most famous and iconic arch. Sometimes I want it to be because the hike up here is pretty neat, how it goes up slickrock and around the narrow ledge, and they you can say “whoa” when you turn the corner. Of course this isn't the reason but I can pretend. Anyway, I like hiking with the fourth graders to Delicate Arch because it reminds me, when I see it through their eyes, how difficult the journey is and the dramatic aspect of the approach.

But, honestly, I haven’t hiked to Delicate Arch on my own in the year since I came for this field trip last year. Instead, the place I go to the most is one that few visit. Every time I go here, I see something new and get that fresh “whoa” feeling (without needing fourth graders' eyes).

On the way there.

This weekend I found four arches I’d never seen before. It’s the kind of place that isn’t license-plate spectacular. But that’s not the kind of beauty I’m into.

Whoa!

What I do like is being able to turn the corner, or peer over the top of the canyon, and see something new that I didn’t expect. That sense of wonder is what I love.

Slickrock like waves. The La Sals mostly hiding in snow-clouds.

The beauty of this canyon isn’t something I can show you in a picture. Instead, it’s what it feels like to ramble through a trail-less areas.

It’s exploring each side-canyon to discover cracks to climb up and passages that lead to hidden treasures.

More of a hidden treasure than the rusty tin cans (not pictured).

Beetles definitely count as hidden treasures, right?

It’s finding the hidden arch where you least expect it.

There is an arch. Can you see it? Also, a balanced rock but not The Balanced Rock.

After climbing higher. See it now?

During the field trip, we'd take the students to a "secret" place nestled under a rock ledge for one of the learning stations. "Walk exactly in my footprints," I'd say, "to keep our tracks hidden so no one else comes over here." This is one of my favorite things to teach the kids-- how they can explore off-trail as long as they do so responsibly by "tiptoeing through the crypto" and not leaving footprints behind.

Just off the main trail.

Before I get back on the designated trail on the way to my car, I wait behind a rock for a while to see if anyone is coming. Then carefully pick my way back by leaping from rock to rock so as not to leave any footprints. Not that I don't want others to find solitude and share my "whoa" feelings of discovery. Just that they need to do so responsibly.

Not so stealthily dressed

On the drive back, I stopped at the iconic pullouts to watch the sunset. Because even though I have seen these views dozens of time, when the light plays with the rocks, it still makes me say "whoa".

Fiery Furnace

THE Balanced Rock

Snow on redrock

Almost exactly a year ago, I started working here at this park. During my first week, my supervisor sent me on a scavenger hunt to learn the major landmarks and basic natural history. I hiked all the trails and took pictures of common plants and tried to learn the names of each rock layer.

Now, a year later, I'm still finding new spots to explore. Maybe that's why I love this place so much. There is always something new and surprising. A treasure trove for the inexhaustibly curious.

Last night there was a dusting of snow, maybe an inch. It transformed familiar landscapes and made the redrock even more mesmerizing.

Foggy morning

I used to think that the desert was stark and devoid of life. But now I know you just need to know where and how to look.

Cottonwoods

What a story all these tracks in the snow tell! Not just cottontails, but foxes or coyotes, and perhaps a bobcat. I wish I could see all these animals.

Desert cottontail

I make a few turns and end up somewhere I've been before. It was my first week of work and my new coworker came along to explore too. It was then that I learned what wonderful people I got to work with. Which is what makes all the difference in the world.

That one place I've been before, a year ago. Snow has transformed it.

Now, some of those dear friends are scattered across the country and I miss them with all my heart.

Just one set of tracks here

Today, I follow washes and make a few turns that I've never made before.

Scrambling up to get some perspective

Canyon walls get steeper

Snow gets deeper

Rocks under snow make footing tricky

More tree friends

Approaching the end of the canyon

The canyon gets even more narrow and the boulders get bigger and then there is a bit of scrambling and then bushwhacking through the mahonia which whacks back with prickery leaves. Finally steep walls are all around. There is a drip drip drip at the pour-off high above. Below, an ice skating rink and a tower of fallen icicles.

Icicles

I turn around and retrace my steps. The light has that soft, wintery feel that compliments the redrock especially well.

La Sals peaking through

Dance of shadows

I stop by the overlook to watch the La Sals start to glow. Tourists pull in, get out of the cars, take a few pictures, then leave. I want to stay here forever. This feels more like home than anywhere I've ever been.

I am grateful that I get to spend some more time here. Each day, every day, to be savored.

When mud is in the name

I really like hiking in places that are close to home. Mud Springs (in southwest Colorado) doesn’t look like much when you get to the trailhead. But the parking lot is big and the road there is paved so I can get there in my little car while the high country is covered in snow.

View from the parking area makes it look flat and boring.

The map is intriguing though. It has these areas that are shaded in that say “Free travel play areas”. Which sounded pretty exciting. Like maybe there would be rope swings.

Those of you familiar with ATVs and rock crawlers probably know where this is going. But as an ever-hopeful hiker that sometimes takes thing too literally and tends to not know a lot about motorized things, I made a beeline to find out what the "play areas" would hold.

Trailhead map

"Free Travel Play Areas"

A road begins from the trailhead. Muddy this time of year. Mud is in the name though, right? At least it’s honest.

Walking in the snowy part of the road

Turning down the muddy trail. Can't avoid it now.

Views into McElmo Canyon and far away to Mesa Verde.

After crossing the canyon, climbing up to the rim with a nice view of Sleeping Ute Mountain.

I head off trail and find some graffiti from 1923. Which makes it a historic inscription.

A cool tree. No rope swing here either though.

The mud is so slippery it’s hard to stay upright. Feet seem to slide in all directions, except forward. Each step is a challenge. Maybe this sliding around is really playing in the mud. Which is alright.

Sticky

Techniques for hiking in mud vary. One main thing is not tiptoeing around the edges— that just widens the trail. Better to plow right into the middle of things. Embrace it. Become one with it.

When I finally get near one of the "play areas" there is some of this. And also a lot of ATV tracks. Still, it's nice to just wander around and see what there is to find.

Did I cover all the ground? This helped me keep track. Sort of fun.

More information
BLM's Mud Springs

Bears Ears National Monument

President Obama declared Bears Ears a National Monument yesterday! As someone who has hiked in this area and who cares about protecting valuable cultural and historical resources for future generations, I'm thrilled this finally happened.

Bears Ears Buttes, as seen from Natural Bridges National Monument (where I camped last month.) The newly established Bears Ears National Monument surrounds the existing Natural Bridges National Monument.

Bears Ears National Monument includes a wealth of American Indian cultural sites and thousands of years of human history. It’s like an outdoor museum, inviting exploration and wonder, but also has been hit hard by vandalism and looting and part of it was even sold off earlier this year. That's why protecting it now as a national monument is such a big deal (read the eloquent presidential proclamation here and see the map of the area here).

Many people have been pushing for Bears Ears to be made a National Monument including a coalition of tribes who have sacred sites here and trace their ancestral homes here. One thing that is unique about this National Monument designation is that American Indian tribes petitioned the President to create the Monument and that it includes establishment of a Bears Ears Commission made up of tribal members that help to manage the area for the future.

Sign at Natural Bridges about the significance of the butte.

Last month, I visited Comb Ridge (part of the area that is within the new monument) with an member of a local archeology group who has been visiting this area for many years. We hiked up to an Ancestral Puebloan site and petroglyph panel and she pointed out a lot of things I hadn't noticed when I'd visited here before. She says that since she started coming here, she has noticed a big impact- there are fewer and fewer pottery sherds for example.

Ancestral Puebloan site on Comb Ridge that we visited in November of 2016. This site is now protected!

Sherds like this one used to be more abundant. Sherds contain a wealth of information about the lives of the people who lived here- including when they were here, the history of trade, and even what they ate and drank. Loosing these artifacts robs these places of pieces of their history.

Corn was farmed by the people who lived here. It's amazing to see this after hundreds of years. I hope future generations also get a chance to hold pieces of the past like this.

The establishment of Bears Ears as a national monument has been controversial due to arguments about development of mineral rights and also resistance to federal lands (read more about that here). It is possible that the Antiquities Act of 1906 will be challenged in the coming years. So be sure to stay current on this issue and make your voice heard.

Climbing up Comb Ridge, now part of Bears Ears National Mounument.

No trails here, so you're free to explore.

View from the top of Comb Ridge.

Want to see more photos from this area?

In 2015, Jan and I spent a few weeks traveling around Comb Ridge, Valley of the Gods, and Cedar Mesa, all areas that are now protected now as part of Bears Ears National Monument. 

Read Jan’s trip report too.

Ending this with paintbrush, which was still blooming in November.