Moab for Fall Break

Our Moab partial Welch family reunion was a success.  We distanced, sanitized and wore masks and gathered outside….and hopefully we won’t be a corona hotbed statistic.  Fingers crossed.  

 Tami and Rob Madsen planned this Moab trip and we are grateful they did.   

Our air BnB was a trailer-- that worked out great with 2 baths and 3 bedrooms… it was perfect for Wayne and me, Monson and Lexi, Tayla, Lady, and Elsie.  It was great having a kitchen so we didn’t have to rely on restaurant food..and a living room for running around in.   Moab was crowded.  So much traffic.  It’s like all of Northern Utah went to Southern Utah.  There was easily a 45-minute traffic jam getting into Moab all 3 days, all day long.  So crazy.    

Wayne and I took our bikes down to bike on Thursday- up Potash Road along the Colorado river.  It was so beautiful.  We passed rock climbers, and Petroglyphs

Friday  Rob Madsen took all those that wanted to rappel. ( He took a group on Thursday and then did it all over again on Friday.)  It was a riot-- it took a good 6- 8 hours to drive, hike in a mile and a half, do two rappels off of at least 110 ft cliffs, and then hike 2 miles out and rearrange cars again.  Rob is a saint.  Inexperienced adults are hard enough, but then you add a scared 9, 11, and 12 years old and it takes longer to talk them off of a cliff and to trust the equipment.  I  was proud of myself. I just harnessed up, walked up to the edge, and did it.  It was a blast for me this time.  The most relaxed I have ever been.  We rappelled Medieval and Morning Glory arch.   Rappelling is cool...it’s just scary enough that there’s an adrenaline rush, and something not everyone would do...it’s a bit nerve-wracking and totally worth doing it, and you feel accomplished when you get to the bottom.   

First Row: Rob and Tami Madsen, Wayne, Melinda
Backrow: Bridger Bentley , Richard Summers, Blain Bentley, Tim Shurtz, Mark, Army, Loren and Scott Summers.

Tami and Melinda

Wayne getting ready to Rappel into Medieval.

Rappelling by Morning Glory Arch

We all gathered at a City park Friday night with our dinners and visited.   We had Wayne and me, Monson and Lexi and the girls, Tami and Rob with Nash, Kylie and Zach; Mark and Jill and all of their kids and some extras, Sandy and Clark, Shelbi and Fam, Bridger and Mary, Blain and Fam, Blake and Fam and Brady; and representing the Shurtz side we had Amy and Mark Summers and their fam and Tim and Alora and fam.  There were 51 of us in total.  

Whole group minus Blake and Liz Bentley family

 The kids played at the park, and the activity for teens and above was learning about 30 seconds of the THRILLER Michael Jackson dance and making a video.  I was proud of all of the good sports that jumped into this, totally out of their comfort zone, and just danced...like nobody was watching….or cared.  We laughed a lot.   

Girls club cousin hiking group.  Alora Shurtz, Tayla, Lady, Addilyn Shurtz, Hannah Summers, Rachel and Amy Summers.  Delicate Arch in the background

Zach ( Kylies' Boyfrind) Jill and Hayley Welch, Monson, Me, Lexi, Nash, Elsie being held by Teri
( Stockton's girlfriend) Stockton and Abby. 

Saturday was a two hike day.     We drove to Arches National Park early to beat the crowds before 8 am -- which we didn’t beat, but the National Parks are so busy, that they get to capacity and close.  Well we barely made it, it was difficult to find parking etc.. but that’s okay.  It’s so beautiful. We climbed to Delicate Arch.  This is a moderate hike… a long uphill climb, then some scary drop-offs, amazing vistas and incredible views at the top of the arch that’s on the Utah License Plate.  We got a lot of pictures.   It’s a bit nerve-wracking doing this with littles… and keeping them away from the edges.  Tayla loved meeting her 2nd cousins and hiking and playing with Addilyn Shurtz,  and Hannah Summers. They called themselves the Girls hiking club.    We had Elsie in a backpack that Monson carried, and we took a backpack up for Lady that she lasted all of a half-hour in … then she walked or we carried her and we also carried the backpack. Oh well.  We were proud of the girls for hiking so well.  Wayne ended up carrying Lady on his shoulders a lot of the time.  Pretty good for a dizzy guy on an uneven surface with lots of hills, sand, and slippery sandstone.   Monson was also a good sport around all of this… he likes to hike as much as he likes as he puts it, “ a good splinter or a  paper cut.” 

Corona Arch

Our afternoon /evening hike was to Corona Arch… Another moderate hike that had a big uphill and then lots of other interesting difficulties if you have little kids in backpacks or kids who have no sense or fear.  Lexi said she thinks Tami’s plan with all of the “treacherous” hikes was to kill off the weaker parts of the family...haha.   Corona Arch was beautiful! Totally worth it.  (We hiked Corona in remembrance of Covid 19. )

Some of the family stayed up at Corona Arch for the sunset and hiked out with flashlights.  We-- because we had littles, and they were starving-- hiked down in the light.  It’s not good having hangry Monson or littles… or me for that matter. 

Sunday we checked out and drove home, but not before we did a morning stop at Gemini Bridges.  They were cool too!!  The other fun things on these trails were the little, stacked up rock towers to keep you on track -- Cairns.   Tayla loved making her own. 

Lexi looking down into Gemini Bridges.

 This was my first time in Moab ( and I’ve lived  58 years)  and at Arches National Park.  I loved it.   There are a lot of amazing things out there if you take the time, to hike or rappel or get off the beaten track, on to dirt roads etc… to find them.  The older I get the more I want to be outside exploring God’s good earth and being in the sunshine.