FRIDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2024

(Moab, UT)

Andrew had a really good sleep. So good, that he didn’t really want to wake up. In the spirit of it being, well, a holiday, I waited until around 0830 to start making coffee, which necessitated turning on the lights. By some unspoken, mutual understanding, we didn’t worry about getting to the hotel breakfast, but instead went for brunch at Gloria’s, which was much more substantial, and set us up for the day.

Andrew had, again, asked for an easier hike (as yesterday’s didn’t exactly meet the brief!). He suggested going to Canyonlands, which as it was sunny, would also offer fabulous views. I offered up Murphy Overlook Trail, which is about 3.6 miles round trip, which is one we haven’t done for quite a while, and has fabulous views. We stopped briefly at the visitor centre to show our pass, as required, and took the opportunity to ask a ranger about the animal tracks we took at Colorado National Monument. They were very excited to see them and to confirm that they were, very definitely, those of a mountain lion. They had a book which also had pictures of scat, which matched some we’d seen slightly further up the trail. So there we have it. Definitely a mountain lion. At this point, I should probably mention that we did hear something mewing… We never saw it, but it’s entirely possible that it saw us…

Anyway, with that confirmed we drove to the trailhead, which these days is a larger tarmac lot. It used to be a small mud fest, so this reflects the increasing visitation numbers. The walk goes across a meadow, then climbs slightly before descending across layers of rock to reveal views of features like the Candlestick, the meandering Green River, the Turks Head, and the White Rim Road, as well as the Murphy Hogback, 1400 feet below, and which we’ve walked to previously. 

We had a nice chat with a couple from St George, near Snow Canyon, while we were at the end of the trail, before setting off back to the car. It had been around 9 degrees when we set off, and had maybe got a degree or two warmer, but coupled with the sun it was the perfect blend, and we enjoyed wearing shorts and T-shirts (although Andrew could have done  with putting sunscreen on his legs…). We did start off with too many layers on, though, and there were plenty of stops while we sorted out our clothing options.

It was about 3.30pm when we finished our hike, so we decided to leave Canyonlands, although we stopped briefly at the visitor centre again, this time to take photos of the La Sal mountains and the Shafer Trail.

[Editor’s note: there will be a video, but not tonight!]

Down in Moab, we went to City Market for supplies. It was a busy Friday night at the supermarket, but our server from last night recognised us and said hello in passing. We then went straight to dinner before it got too busy, which turned out to be a good decision, as they were starting to queue by the time we left Zax’s.

We had things to do and places to go, however, so it was back to the hotel for showers and warmer clothes. Once ready, we went to Arches and drove to the Windows section, where we walked to Turret Arch. In the dark. It was surprisingly busy. I don’t know what everyone else was doing. Some, like us, were taking photos, but others seemed to just be going for a walk, perhaps to enjoy the night sky.  It was spectacular, but we could see so much that we’re could pick out the comet by eye. I did get a few good photos, which I’ll edit properly at home, but here’s a preview. I’ve also circled the location of the comet and I’ll stick a large version of the photo   in, so you can see it fit yourself. 

And that’s it. It’s now nearly 11pm, so I very much doubt will be up early tomorrow.