Sunday February 25th:
After sleeping in my hotel I woke up and went to the Pancake Haus. My hotel gave me a coupon to go there, so I thought why not! While I was sitting there the table next to me says, "You're a long ways from home". Once I looked over, I realized it was the family from Hunter Canyon trail who I noticed saying, "She's from NY!". She said she has the same truck and saw me pull up. They asked me what brought me out here, how long it took, and what I am doing by myself in Moab, UT. It was nice to hear from them how they really love their state and how it has so much to offer.
Once I finished my apple cinnamon pancakes, which were delightful and I took the left overs for the following morning, I set out for Dead Horse State Park. Unlike Hunter Canyon, it was a nice paved road through the mountains and was absolutely beautiful. I did some research prior to going to the park and noticed there are only a few hiking trails, but a ton of biking trails! When I got there I noticed a girl walking from the bike trails, so I thought why don't I do that!
My outfit is confused, I know. Even when it is bitter cold, the sun is still out so I wore my sunglasses.
The bike trails I followed were Intrepid, to Great Pyramid, and then to Big Chief. I was by myself for most of it. I saw 2 bikers and that was it! The trails here are marked very well because it is a state park, but the view at Big Chief was pretty unbelievable.
I decided to hike back on the Ravel roll trail which didn't have many views, but I thought it would be shorter and lead me to the designated hiking trails. Well, it didn't and if it does I couldn't find it. I went back to the Visitor Center and started hiking the real hiking trail. After seeing the view at Big Chief I was somewhat unimpressed with the look outs, especially since the main lookout you can drive to. My garmin watch died at about 14.5 miles, so I decided to turn around and drove to the Dead Horse Point.
My legs were pretty tired. Thankfully I came prepared and packed a sandwich and fruit to take hiking which I munched on throughout my over 14.5 miles. I looked online and saw some articles about Gemini Bridges. I went to check it out and realized it was mostly for bikers, 4x4's, and people with 4 wheel drive. It was getting late and I thought, I don't feel like getting my truck covered in dirt. So I left and went to a restaurant called Zak's. My dad and I went there when we were in Moab a few years ago. I ordered a beer and went back to my hotel to eat the pizza and salad I packed.
My original plan this day was to see Corona Arch at sunrise, which is an amazing arch outside of Arches National Park. It's really just as beautiful and you don't have to pay to see it! When I looked at the weather, it said it would be cloudy and the following morning would be better. So after hiking all day at Dead Horse and eating some food, I went to bed knowing I'd be waking up before sunrise to hike. Be ready for some amazing photos in the next post!
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