New Weather and Utah's Majestic Arches and Bridges

Double Arch of Arches National Park

New Weather

The briefer says, "Cheyenne is IFR. In fact, the entire route to your destination is IFR. That is not supposed to improve today. Let me look at the forecast. Oh, likely this will get worse. Low IFR is predicted tomorrow for Cheyenne, with possible snow in the mountains along your route from Cheyenne on. Even the day after does not look good."

This is bad news. The day before, friend Manfried and I flew from Dallas to Goodland, KS, stayed at a motel, and are now ready for the trip from Goodland to Vernal, UT, where we want to hike in Dinosaur National Monument. The planned route includes a refueling stop in Cheyenne, WY, then follows Interstate 80 West up to Elk Mountain. At that point, it leaves the road and goes southwest directly to Vernal.

I tell the briefer, "I don't understand this. Last night a cold front came through here, and the high behind it was to produce VFR for the entire route from Goodland to Vernal."

She responds, "Welcome to the New Weather. We get unpredictable changes now. Moist air has moved across the cold front from the southwest. Terminal forecasts for airports such as Cheyenne have turned out to be all wrong.

"My family has a farm in eastern Colorado. They normally get 10 inches of rain per year. So far this year, they got so much rain they haven't been able to plant."

I ask, "Do you have any suggestion what we can do?" She answers, "If you want to fly the planned route, you probably have to wait two days. But let me check. You could start right now on a really roundabout route, from Goodland south to Amarillo, then west to Albuquerque, and then going north on the west side of the Rockies to Vernal."

We accept her advice and fly that day from Goodland to Grants, NM, just west of Albuquerque. The suggested stop in Amarillo, TX is too much of a detour. Instead, we cling close to the Rockies and refuel in Las Vegas, NM.

Grants, NM

Wes, the FBO of the Grants airport, passed away this spring, a sorry event. He was a really helpful and friendly man. Over the years, we stopped there often overnight, one reason being a pleasant visit with Wes. 

Grants has a new, temporary FBO, Ray. Before the departure from Goodland, we call him. He says, "The weather is fine, but winds are 21 kts, with gusts to 31 kts." Asked about wind direction, he answers, "Right down the runway."  When we get there, the wind is just as strong and gusty, but also has a significant crosswind component. But we still manage a decent landing.

Ray turns out to be just as kind and helpful as Wes. He stays late to help us store the plane in the main hangar and provides a courtesy car for the trip to the motel.

Once in Grants, we forget about Vernal as destination, since rain is predicted there. Instead, we decide for the Moab area in central Utah, which is guaranteed to have good weather this time of year. This turns out to be a fortuitous decision.

Moab, UT

Moab has an airport, but no rental car is available. The nearby airport in Grand Junction, CO, has plenty of rental cars. But when we call the FBO about hangar storage—mandatory in that region due to frequent thunderstorms, some with hail—we get another lesson about the cost of today's flying: Putting our tiny plane into a hangar is to cost $100/day. Ouch.

The alternate plan is to get a rental car in Grants and drive six hours to Moab. That's what we do. 

With the Memorial Day weekend approaching, it's no surprise that all campgrounds in Moab are fully booked, as is the campground of nearby Arches National Park. But the Bureau of Land Management operates first-come first-served camp sites along the Colorado river. Luckily, we still get a site there early afternoon. The campground is just a few miles outside Moab.

Arches National Park

Most tourists come to Moab to visit Arches National Park, and rightly so. Its collection of sandstone arches and bridges is unique in the world. We visit those wonders over three days filled with unhurried hikes.

Delicate Arch

In glistening morning sun of day 1, we and many others hike up to 65 ft tall Delicate Arch. The 3 miles round trip is fun and easy.

Ascent to Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch

On the left side of the top of the arch, prince's plume flowers have found a niche of soil and moisture.

Prince's plume at top of Delicate Arch

Park Avenue

In summer, hiking the 2 miles round trip hike of Park Avenue can be a hellish experience. But in spring time, it is a delightful trip.

Park Avenue

The Three Gossips rise at the north end of Park Avenue. The formation reminds us of Rodin's famous 1889 sculpture of The Burghers of Calais.

Three Gossips

Devil's Garden

Day 2 we hike all the trails of Devil's Garden. Most of them are sandy and level, but a primitive portion requires hiking up and down steep, slippery rocks. This is no hike for the faint of heart. 

Cairns mark the trail. It's still easy to get lost. The main reason is that many prior hikers got temporarily lost, left misleading footprints in the sand, and cause us to make the same mistake. To paraphrase Yogi Berra: The trail often is like déjà vu all over again.

Devil's Garden Trail ...

Claretcup cactus and pear cactus are in bloom.

Claretcup cactus

Pear cactus

Dark Angel, 150 ft tall, looms against a sky threatening rain.

Dark Angel

Landscape Arch, with incredible 290 ft span, seems to face imminent collapse. Indeed, it is just 6 ft thick at its thinnest section. It is believed to be the largest natural bridge in the world. If you want to see it intact, this is the time to do it.

Landscape Arch

Windows Section

On day 3, we tour the windows section of the park. It includes Double Arch, shown above, North and South Windows, and Turret Arch.

North (left) and South Windows

Turret Arch

Evening primrose grows in abundance.

Evening primrose

The Moab area offers much beyond Arches National Park. We explore canyons and plateaus in three hikes.

Negro Bill Trail

The trailhead is located on Utah highway 128 East, 3 miles from the bridge where US highway 191 crosses the Colorado river. The 4.5 mile round trip trail follows a creek in a narrow canyon with year-round water, an unusual feature in the region. The creek must be crossed several times, a fun challenge if you don't want to get your feet wet.

Creek crossing

The abundant water supports many flowers, among them spidery-looking yellow salsify, dwarf evening primrose, and large areas of spreading daisy.

Yellow salsify

Dwarf evening primrose

Spreading Daisy

Small-leaved globemallow sometimes places blossoms directly on the soil, and at other times shoots straight up.

Small-leaved globemallow on the ground ...

... and straight up

The end of the canyon marks the end of the trail. Water seeps out of the sandstone to feed the creek. Overhead, the massive Morning Glory Bridge spans the canyon.

Morning Glory Bridge

Corona Arch
  
The trailhead is on Utah highway 279 South, 10 miles from Arches National Park. The easy trail rises in a broad valley. At one point, children—some maybe quite old—have created a congregation of cairns, one next to the other.

Congregation of cairns

The trail terminates after 1.5 miles at the Corona Arch, which is also known as Little Rainbow Bridge.

Corona Arch

Beyond the arch, prince's plume carves out a living in bits of soil. The sandstone background and position of the sun invite a self-portrait with the flowers.

Prince's plume

On the way back, we notice a cairn resembling a Picasso sculpture. It proves that value is in the eye of the beholder.

Picasso art by erosion

Jeep Arch

The trail starts within a quarter mile of the trailhead for Corona Arch. We find the parking lot of the trailhead, but cannot make out where the trail begins. A helpful hiker points out a culvert installed below railroad tracks. "That's the start of the trail, believe it or not. The culvert is bigger than it looks." Both claims are correct.

Start of trail to Jeep Arch

At first, the 3.2 mile roundtrip hike up a broad canyon is easy. But it is mid afternoon, the parching sun is strong, and at times the terrain rises steeply.

A half mile from the goal, we hear faint guitar strums and singing coming from the Jeep Arch, also known as Gold Bar Arch.

Jeep Arch

The arch seems inaccessible, just as we were told by two hikers on the trail. But off to the side is a narrow passage that brings us up to the arch. 

The singer greets us with a smile.

Friendly reception at Jeep Arch

"Do you sing professionally?" I ask. She says, "Oh no, I just sing for fun." I respond, "Well, you have a wonderful voice."

It is time to start the return drive to Grants. Mesa Verde National Park is on the route.

Mesa Verde National Park

The campground of the park is huge, having more than 200 sites. Less than half of them are occupied. We pick a perfect site and stay for two days. 

We have been at the park before and decide to tour the famous Balcony House and look at the other sites from roadside viewpoints. 

Balcony House is accessed by a tall ladder, has narrow passages, and demands a steep climb up the canyon wall. This is not a tour for oversized folks.

Balcony House ...

... has narrow passages ...

...and demands a steep climb

Yuccas are in bloom.

Broadleaf yucca

We look at expansive Cliff Palace from a roadside viewpoint.

Cliff Palace

For hiking, we choose the Prater Ridge trail. It starts right at the campground. The north loop of the trail, a 7 mile round trip, has lots of flowers and views.

Fendlerbush covers the hillside.

Fendlerbush...

Scarlet gilia grows in abundance.

Scarlet gilia

Far away, the San Juan Mountains have heavy snow cover, an unusual sight for late spring.

San Juan Mountains

It is time to return to Dallas.

More New Weather

The day before the return flight from Grants, both Plainview, TX, which is the planned refueling stop, and Dallas are pounded by thunderstorms and intense rains.  

As we approach Plainview the next day for refueling, we see flooded fields, a rare view in West Texas. UNICOM advises not to use taxiway A since the NTSB has equipment there for an accident investigation. Upon landing, we are told the sad story.

The day before, the hapless pilot of a Bonanza tried to escape the thunderstorms approaching Plainview by a hasty takeoff. Just as he lifted off, a wind shear grabbed the plane like a toy and slammed it into the ground. It reminds us of the saying, "Even if you are an old pro, thunderstorms never lose."

Dallas is still covered by thunderstorms. The Weather Channel reports extensive flooding. We wait for an hour in Plainview for the weather to move on, then take off. ADS-B weather information received by our Garmin GDL39/iPad tells that all airports along our route are at least Marginal VFR, with ceilings of 2,000 ft or better, and visibility at least 5 miles. We check and recheck this information throughout the flight, and return safely to the home base, Aero Country airport T31.

Recommendation

Grants-Milan is an excellent airport for overnight stays and getting a rental car. The FBO, Ray, is most helpful and friendly. Hangar rental has reasonable cost, as does car rental from Ed Corley Ford. We had a mishap with our rental car. A hit-and-run driver damaged the rear door while we were parked at a restaurant. Ed Corley Ford handled the entire problem, including filing of the insurance claim. There was no separate charge for downtime, which is a recent invention of car rental companies and not covered by insurance.

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