Saturday morning, David and I loaded up and headed for the hills southwest of Moab called the “Behind-the-Rock” area. There was a threat of rain in the area so we weren’t surprised to see a big black cloud hanging on the La Sal Mountains east of Moab. However, I had already decided I was going anyway. The only question was whether I would be wearing sunscreen or riding the ATV with an umbrella. Either way, I was going!

As it turned out, the day was very pleasant with some clouds but the big black cloud stayed on the mountain until late afternoon when it finally moved south and missed us anyway. I wore sunscreen and REALLY enjoyed the day.

La Sal Mountains from Back-of-the-Rocks area

Near the main highway, we unloaded the ATVs and headed west to Prostitute Rock where we stopped to take pictures of Balcony Arch and then around to the north end to take pictures of Picture Frame Arch. We made a feeble attempt to climb up into Picture Frame Arch but either the rock was steeper or we are getting older. We decided to just take pictures from below and wonder about whoever made the rocks steeper.

Balcony Arch

Picture Frame Arch

Prostitute Butte

We circled the butte at least once before getting our bearings for the next road we were looking for. We continued driving west on the Pritchett Canyon road for several miles before taking a south jeep trail that took us to Farview Arch. We had been here years ago but our memories were kind of fuzzy about the location until we saw the arch and could remember the area.

From Farview Arch, we drove south along the rim of Kane Springs Canyon to a small arch we called Penny Slot Arch. We had never visited Penny Slot Arch before and we enjoyed the view into Kane Springs Canyon.

Farview Arch

Penny Slot Arch

Along the way, we found quite a bit of road and trail damage from the storms on the Memorial Day weekend. We were glad we hadn’t tried coming down last weekend. It was a mess! In fact, in the canyons near Green River Utah, they were rescuing people with helicopters. At least one family lost their vehicle when it was parked in the bottom of a wash while they went hiking.

At the same time, the wildflowers and cactus were all in bloom. At least those that didn’t get washed away, enjoyed the rains. However, the No-See-Ums were out and the temperatures were in the 80’s. We were glad to be down here before it got too hot.

By early afternoon, we were on our way down the Pritchett Canyon road, past Road Bend Arch to the Hunter Canyon area.

Road Bend Arch

We parked the ATV’s at the trailhead for Pritchett, Cummings and Wigwam Arches. We climbed up the trail but instead of hiking north to the arches, we headed west for a little over a mile so we could look down onto Halls Arch (sometimes called Halls Natural Bridge though it really isn’t a bridge). It was good to get out and stretch our legs to do some hiking.

Halls Arch

Sandstone Twists

Pritchett Canyon

When we got back to the Pritchett Arch trail, David went back to the ATVs while I hurried up the canyon to take lake afternoon pictures of Cummings Arch and Pritchett Arch in the deep shadows and Wigwam Arch still in the sun light.

Pritchett Arch

Cummings Arch

Wigwam Arch

Pritchett Arch Trail

By the time we were ready to leave, the sun was heading down. It was 15 miles of trail back to the vehicle and half of that was after dark.

Hunter Canyon sunset

Kane Springs Canyon sunset

We drove the ATVs a total of 43.4 miles for the day. It was 10:30 PM by the time we got back to Moab and I didn’t get to bed in Orem until after 2 AM.

Still it was another beautiful day in the hills! I love it!