But first...this is the weather we left in Park City. Good-bye, snow and cold!
Considering the long drive, the girls did great!
This is a view of Bears' Ears. Obama named it a national monument but there is still quite a bit of controversy over it, especially with our change in presidency.
We love our camping lights!
Morning snuggles are the best.
play time!
Our first hike took us to Big Mouth Cave, with a series of ruins along the way.
Walking around the ruins just leaves you asking more questions about life for the Anasazi people.
One of the most fascinating features of the ruins (besides the structures themselves) are the ceilings of the caves--most are black from the constant fires they had for warmth and cooking.
Arrowheads and pieces of pottery were all over. Once you had the eye for it, they were pretty easy to find.
dinosaur prints
chillaxin' at camp
Our campsite was right next to a natural spring, which was so fun for the kids to play in on the warm afternoons.
The next day, we hiked around West Wash.
Ballroom Cave
After, we did another short hike to an overlook to get a glimpse of more ruins. Look closely near the top. I can't even begin to imagine how they managed to get up there!
more play time after our hikes
dinner time!
On our 3rd day, we did a more challenging hike to Moonhouse ruins.
This photo makes it look like we were literally on the edge of the cliff but it really wasn't that bad (okay...my blood pressure may have gone up a bit).
lots of downs...
We hiked down to the bottom of the wash and then we had to climb up to the ruins.
It was all worth it!
The Moonhouse ruins is about 1/4 mile long and contains 49 rooms. It is one of the more preserved ruins in the area so you need a permit to hike to it. We were able to go into a hallway and look into a few rooms but the most important rule was to not touch the walls.
We have no idea of the significance of the white paint, dots, and triangles. One theory is that it had something to do with the calendar and moon phases, perhaps.
notice the moon...
close-up of the walls
hiking back out
Our friends had to head back home on Wednesday, but we drove up to Moab for a couple of nights to continue our explorations.
more dinosaur prints
beautiful hike to Morning Glory Arch
We crossed the little creek a total of about 18 times (there and back).
Morning Glory Arch
After 6 days of hiking, camping, and "camping food", a root beer float sounded like a good treat!
Then we took a drive to look at more rock art and dinosaur prints.
Exhausted...
As we were packing up camp, we were greeted by this...I can now say I've seen a scorpion.
