Backpacking Canyonlands and Arches last week.

Last week we got to go with Steve to drop off the plane for a week of maintenance in Grand Junction, CO and of course, we turned it into an adventure: backpacking in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. It was the first real pack trip for the kids now that they have real packs, and they did an amazing job carrying their own gear up to 2 miles at a time. We somehow got the only back country permit in the "Island in the Sky" area of Canyonlands and headed out to Murphy's Point, where we set up camp on the edge of a huge cliff overlooking amazing red rock canyons.

Don't tell the NPS (National Park Service!) but Evan especially had a great time chucking rocks off the cliff, which took 6.5 seconds to hit bottom. (About 1200 feet down?) We loved the first night in the new pyramid tent (specially purchased for it's rave reviews about light-weight 4 season versatility) and it seemed we were camped out in a bug shelter under a bazillion stars. But then the wind kicked up the next day so we put on the cover, left our stuff and we came back from 6 miles of hiking to find the thing completely blown over, full of dirt, and otherwise uninhabitable for the night. Definitely NOT a 4-season shelter! The kids helped us vote on packing up and out of there around 8 pm and bravely night-hiked with full packs back another 1.8 miles to the car. We spent the next 2 nights in a Grand Junction Hotel awaiting another tent (we got a great deal though, so it worked out) overnighted to us by REI in Seattle.



Some of these shots look scarier than it really was. I don't like seeing my little boy out there on that cliff!
Can you see our pyramid behind us in the group shot?
Our favorite hikes around there were to Mesa Arch and Whale Rock.
This adventure was a great learning experience too: the kids got to learn lots about desert ecology/habitats, plants and animals, the elements, geology and the food chain. We saw lots of lizards, ravens, a kangaroo rat, a coyote, huge beetles, a scorpion and mice/chipmunks. We were surprised at how much green there was for a desert environment and it was fun to hear things that the kids related/remembered from our Mesa Verde trip.



After getting our NEW new tent, we spent a night near Colorado National Monument in a place called Potato Rock and The Potholes which was pretty cool. Our new tent is definitely a 4-season super shelter and we gave it a good breaking-in that night when the winds (again, only WORSE) gusted hard all night. After that, we headed to Arches and packed in behind Double Arch and the Windows to a back-country desert paradise and stayed 2 nights. We saw lots of arches, Sand Dune Arch being the kids favorite, and Fiery Furnace being Steve and my favorite place with lots of maze canyons and hidden arches etc. SO BEAUTIFUL and COLORFUL there. I'd go back every year if I could! October is a great time to visit. I'll add a slide show of the rest of the trip later...