Moab in May

In May the Irving Boys - Myself, my brother Charley and his two sons Everett and Taegan, and my brother Kenny, took a week and went camping in Moab, UT. Everett and Taegan were glad to be taken out of school and the rest of us were enjoying a few days off. On Wednesday my dad drove down from Salt Lake City and joined us for a few days. Long walks to the arches were taken on the first couple of days. Some of the hikes we accomplished were the Sand Arch, Windows, Broken Arch, and most impressive the Delicate Arch.

Thursday was the main reason for the trip. Two shinny red jeeps were rented to go rock crawling. The trails were steep!! It took a little encouraging to get my brother Charley to go up the first good climb. I even had to get out of my jeep once, climb back down and drive his jeep up the rock. I think I was just as scared the first time I went with my brother-in-law Gregg and sister Ina last year. I also had to tell my Dad to stay in the jeep for a couple of the climbs, he was ready to get out and walk up the rock. I think his heart skipped a beat once or twice. Over all we had a great time, and by the end of the day my brother Charley and his 2 boys were really getting into the "Jeeping Moab".

I think that 1 of the most enjoyable times during that week was our 4x4 experience to Gemini Bridges. I have always seen the sign when I head into Moab every year, but never knew anything about it. When we rented our Jeeps they gave us a trail map of suggested routes and sites. Gemini Bridges was one of the approved trails we were allowed to take the rentals through. It was a good 15 miles over some very extreme rock climbing and also a lot of sand trails. We first went to the top of the Bridge, overlooking 500 feet of sheer drop off. The 100 foot Arch was once 1 Arch, but then it had been sliced in half, like a slice of bread. Hence the name "Gemini" or 2 Bridges. We were able to walk over the narrow Arch and look down into the crack that split the 2 Arches. What an amazing feel of fear and excitement at the same time. Afterward we took another hour long trail down to the bottom of the canyon and were able to see the Bridges 400 feet up in the Air. This picture was taken from below, with a lot of zoom. Trust me when I tell you that it was 400 feet up the canyon wall before the actual Gemini Bridges started. I thought I had seen all of the Arches in the Moab area, but was greatly surprised to find a new Arch. Fortunately for us we had modified jeeps and a trail map to find such a spot to admire.