On Tuesday, Nov. 19th we went back to the Hidden Valley Trail near Moab, Utah. We knew going in that the trail was very steep, climbing through a rocky pass to the top of the cliffs surrounding the Spanish Valley, South of Moab.
The ascent to the top is an 860-foot verticle rise which requires a scramble through large and small loose rocks (climbers call them rubble) for 3/4 of a mile, laughingly referred to by the locals as "Barney Rubble".
The further up the trail you hike the steeper and narrower the trail becomes, making it more challenging as one ascends toward the pass.
After you have hiked up and up and up, the pass looks only a short distance away, but there are still several hundred more feet to the top and then a 6-mile looping trail to follow at the peak
The view of the valley is breathtaking from up there, but we were exhausted and the weather was changing rapidly, so we started back down. (We still are not completely used to the elevation difference between here and home- 600-feet at home-8000-feet here in Utah. The air is thinner up this high and we become exhausted sooner)
On Thursday, Nov. 21st the rain continued to fall and we noticed the La Sal Mountains that we had just explored a few days ago, were now covered with snow, especially the peaks. The rain subsided a little in the afternoon, so we took a quick walk around Ken's Lake again.
The weather is changing, winter is knocking on the door and it is time to head for a warmer climate South of here. Arizona and New Mexico are beckoning, so we are moving on, where we plan to visit the Grand Canyon.
Tomorrow we are going to be packing the car to move on to our next destination, St George, Utah😌.
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