Out on the trails again today. The trailhead started just beside our camping spot so what could have been handier? Headed down Willow Spring Trail which was a sandy trail that wound through all sorts of juniper trees and sagebrush. It crossed open desert that is surrounded by painted desert hills, red and white sandstone domes and steep walled cliffs. It was so picturesque that once again I asked John how many times I could say gorgeous before I sounded like a total loser. The La Sal Mountains were in the background and you could see the snow on the tops of them. We crossed several sand "washes"( the sight of previous flooding). We crossed through the boundary into the Arches National Park and at one point noted that the park ranger was behind us. Now where do you suppose he came from?? We pulled over and She went by and we carried merrily on our way. She was driving a hybrid four wheel drive.
We found the trail head for the Eye of the Whale trail and headed down it. A big sign at the start of the trail mentioned that it was definitely a four wheel drive trail and that a high clearance vehicle was recommended. Well, we have both so, no worries. This trail consisted of loose wash and drift sand, packed sediment, some slickrock and loose rubble. A little bit of everything. It is funny how many kinds and how many ways these people describe their sand. There is wash sand, drift sand and blow sand. What ever happened to just plain sand?? As you can see by the pictures, we made it to the "eye" and I guess if you have a good imagination you can see the "eye" of the whale. We continued along the trail and came to a sign that said the trail may be impassable due to deep sand. That is just a challenge for John so, on we went. There was indeed deep sand but the tracker made it through like a champ. There has not been one thing on the trails that has even slowed this little truck down. It has performed like a champ. As we carried on there were several very challenging slickrock areas and at one point there were only three wheels on the ground. I hope I caught that one on video as I was outside taping that particular bit of trail.
We took a spur trail which led us to Tower Arch. It was one of the biggest arches we had seen and easily accessed if one wished to hike on over. John of course, being the hiker that he is, declined the little sojourn to the arch and I was not about to go head to head with any sort of creature (snake or spider) on my own. Thank Heavens for zoom on the camera!!
Once back on the main trail we headed towards Salt Valley. This last bit of trail was by far the most challenging. The slickrock was eroded and extremely rough, with stair steps going up and coming down. John loved it and so did the truck. I, was even impressed with the little thing!!
Once off the slickrock, we accessed the Salt Valley Trail. This trail is 17 miles long and is mostly sediment and wash sand. It was rough. Washboard comes to mind. It travels much of the length of Salt Valley and provides a different sort of scenery. Lots of juniper and sagebrush remain but the land is much more flat. The trail eventually took us out to the highway and ultimately home. Another great day on the trails of Utah.
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