After many very cold but dry weeks of winter, David and I decided to drive down to the Moab Utah area to see if we could find some sun. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the area was mostly free of snow and the sun made it warm enough to enjoy. (Immediately after this trip, most of Utah got clobbered with multiple snow storms for several weeks in a row.)
We first attempted to climb up to Funnel Arch in Cane Springs Canyon. About 10 years ago, I managed to lizard up a crack and attach a rope so David could get up and we could both get down again. However, this time, I was unable to make it. (I believe they have made the cliffs taller since then.)
So we drove back to Moab and moved to the other side of the Colorado River. We parked at the same parking area that we had parked on 25 October 2008 when we had hiked to Quixotic Arch, Corona Arch and Bowtie Arch. This time we hiked northeast to Pinto Arch. This was meant to be an easy, short hike since the days are short and our endurance is even shorter.
On the drive back to Moab, the sun was just right to finally see the Colorado River Arch on the south side of the river, not far west of The Portal.
It was quite delightful to get out, do a little hiking and nap in the sun for a while. Then it was a long ride home to Provo and Orem that evening. Unfortunately, there was still a big chunk of winter that we had yet to endure before hiking weather rolls around again.
Sigh…