DAY TWELVE, part two: Salinas, UT to Monticello, UT (via Arches National Park)

DAY TWELVE, part two: Salinas, UT to Monticello, UT (via Arches National Park)


The drive from Salinas to Arches found us in and out of the snow. And up and down in mountains. It wasn’t a bad drive, comparatively. We just wanted to keep ahead of the next pounding of snow that was heading our way. We also wanted to arrive at Arches/Canyonlands with enough time to appreciate the views.

As we got closer and closer, we realized that the timing of the sunset was working against us. With advice from friends, we decided to skip Canyonlands. It was a huge park, and we had seen the Grand Canyon after all. It broke my heart a little, but I am so appreciative of all the beauty and wonder I have seen thus far. We pulled in to Arches at 3:00. I asked the ranger what time the sun would set, and he said 5:03. Even though we made it to the park, we would have to pick and choose how often we stopped for photos and whatnot.

As we drove up in elevation winding into the park, John noted that it seems everything we have wanted to see in the past few days has been located uphill in the snow! We were in Wile E. Coyote country! The rock formations were gorgeous. Desirae particularly liked “Balanced Rock.” We wondered if in 20 years, if the girls bring their kids here, will the rock still be there? I liked the parade of elephants, but I really wanted to see the namesake of the park, the arches!

We turned down a road to head towards “delicate arch.” As we did, I made hot chocolate in the back of the RV. Quite an adventure to pour scalding hot water and keep three cups of hot cocoa upright as we bounced down the road. But I did it without a single drop of chocolate lost!

We parked at the vista point for Delicate Arch, and Desirae wasn’t feeling well enough to leave and venture to see it. Five of us walked toward the trail. There was the option of the lower vista or the upper vista. The lower vista point was directly in front of us. The upper vista was down a little hiking trail. Reagan said we should do the upper vista. And so we followed.

Shortly up the trail, the red clay became red soup. John opted not to continue. But the three kids and I pushed forward. The snow started to come down in big fluffy flakes at this point. I was concentrating too hard on not slipping into the red sloppy mess on the ground to appreciate it. The trail led to “stairs” and I use this term very loosely. In the summer I am sure they were nice rock stairs. Now they were caked with the clay, snow, and mud from many a hiker.

Just as I thought to myself “this probably isn’t safe” Ava slipped. She caught herself well, slapping her gloved hands into the blood-red clay, and scaring herself a little. Her pants were ruined. Executive decision: even though we were 90% of the way there, we needed to turn around. Kaylin took Ava’s hand, and Reagan navigated them down. I fell behind.

I followed the lead of the small group ahead of me, and left the “trail” to walk in the brush and rock beside it. It was only slightly drier with much less puddles. I realized on the hike down that I had been staring at my feet, carefully choosing each step. I decided to stop and look up. I was in one of the most beautiful places on earth and I had been staring at my shoes! When I lifted my head, my eyes were met with a mountain in the not-to-far distance. It was stunning. So many colors all in one place. The vibrancy of the colors was so much more pronounced with the white stripes of snow highlighting it in all the right places. I took a picture. The reality hit me: even though it wasn’t strenuous, I was hiking in the snow! I LOVED IT.

I got to the lower vista point, and the kids had moved on to the RV and their hot chocolate. I was still alone, and at the lower vista took pictures and took my time. I enjoyed the isolation, the peace, and the beauty. I am going back there, maybe even on my own. : ) I recommend NOT going in the winter. It is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but there seems to be a lot of hiking to be done and it isn’t all accessible in winter. And I imagine summer might be a bit hot.

We headed to the next spot I was so excited to see. Lots of arches to view. The road went up and up and the snow came down and down. Until visibility was next to nothing. John pulled into a vista point to contemplate our next move. Broken hearted I conceded we turn around and leave the park. When three emergency vehicles passed us heading up on our way down I knew we made the right decision.

We were only 50 miles from our campground, so we stopped to enjoy dinner. I had to Kokopelli chicken which was topped with the diner’s famous green chili (the sign at the restaurant said “The Best Green Chili in Utah! It must have been the ONLY green chili in Utah). The talk over dinner was how badly everyone needed a shower (except me!) and we discussed how many days each had gone without one. I looked at the website for the campground and it proudly bragged of its clean showers! John and the girls cheered!

As we headed down the road, we climbed in elevation and the snow fell even harder. We were behind a Wal-Mart semi, so we gladly followed his footsteps and dry road. He was going pretty fast, so we figured he knew the roads well. As we hit a steep incline and approached 7000 feet, the truck slowed to 20 mph. John was tempted to pass him, but I wondered if maybe he knew something we didn’t. And in a few feet we came upon the semi truck that had gone off the road into the ditch. We decided to stay at 20 mph and keep behind the Wal-Mart guy.

We reached the town of Monticello, home of the Bar-TN RV park. Our trucker friend turned onto a side highway and we proceeded to find the park. There were cars stuck in the snow on either side of the road. John mentioned how he hoped the park was plowed or we wouldn’t be able to get in. I had tried their phone numerous times throughout the day and it was someone’s personal cell phone. Who didn’t believe in calling back.

We found the park. A plow hadn’t touched it. John got out to inspect. As he did, we noticed a deer on the side of the road up ahead. Ava noticed it first and all four kids crowded up to the front to look. As they did, the deer ran across the road, and four of its friends appeared on the side of the road, too. Collective “ooo”s and “ahh”s rang out. Until the four decided to cross the snowy road. And a semi came. As the teens shouted “Go! Go! Go!” to the deer, I yelled, “Ava! Reagan! Close your eyes! This won’t be good!” Yet all five of us watched as all of the deer made it in the nick of time out of the path of the truck!

John came back and said there was no way to get into the park. We had passed another RV park a couple miles back and thought we could head to see what it looked like. With GPS up and running I could see there were many hotels in the town. I tried to convince John that with the money we saved sleeping in a parking lot last night, coupled with whatever we were going to pay tonight, we might be able to find an inexpensive hotel for everyone to shower and crash in for the night. Undaunted he headed for the RV park.

We pulled in to the Mountain View RV park on the only stretch of driveway that had been cleared. There was a man on what John called a “Mule” (looked like an ATV to me) that had a plow on the front. He was going to town on that driveway. He stopped and came to the window. John asked if there was any room, and he looked over the snowy field and said, “well, no, but I can try and plow out a pull-thru for ya.”

We watched this man work his ass off in the snow for a good 10+ minutes, all the while we tried convincing John to get a hotel room. But after all the work that man did we felt a little obligated. Plus I could see the shower building out the window, so the girls were somewhat uplifted by that.

The man cleared the spot, and drove over to talk to John at the window. “You can have that spot now. By the way, no water hook ups tonight.” “Ummmmm, ok. How about the showers?” “Nope. We’re remodeling those.” So John pulled in and told the girls that after my shower there was ¾ of a tank of water. That should be enough for the three of them to have a quick wash. He parked, hooked up the electric and sewer, and came in to take the first hot shower. Only to find the tank was empty.

For the first time since we left, John became unglued. I can’t say as I blame him. This leg of the trip wasn’t supposed to have coincided with a blizzard. It wasn’t supposed to be driven in white out conditions at 25 miles per hour. It wasn’t supposed to be dangerous and scary. And it wasn’t supposed to be without water on a cold stressful night.

Depression was gripping me hard. I reminded myself that I could be at work. I could be dealing with the day-to-day grind. I could have missed all the wonderful things I got to see and do. So as John melted down (which again, I do not begrudge him this) I went outside to make a small snowman. Who knows when I’ll have the chance again, right? Powdery snow sucks for snowmen. I had no idea. I gave up. I’ll make one out of sand when I get home. I went inside and went to sleep, nervous we’d be snowed in by daybreak.