Moab has long been one of our favorite places to hike and bike. What if hiking and biking weren’t an option? Would it still be a favorite? Read below, and you will know.

Before I can tell our story of visiting Moab last November, I need to go further back in time to when I found out my talus bone was fractured on my right ankle, and I had an associated bone lesion. By the way, this fracture happened six months before I became aware of it. (Why yes, I do have an exceptionally high pain tolerance. Why do you ask?). I had been wearing a walking boot for six weeks prior to our Moab excursion due to that discovery. My doctor originally told me I’d likely be able to ditch the boot after a month, but I was still in pain at that point, so the boot remained.

When we first learned that I’d still be dealing with ankle limitations in Moab, we almost canceled our trip. Wouldn’t it be sad to be there and not participate in our usual activities? Eventually, we concluded being in Moab is never sad though we’d have to be creative about ways to occupy ourselves. Luckily, our trip happened to fall right when my doctor said I could try taking the boot off again for a couple days and ascertain pain levels, though I was not supposed to do anything but normal walking during that interval. We decided a short, easy hike would be close enough to “normal walking” to be acceptable, and that’s how we ended up on the Pinyon Interpretive Loop.

The Pinyon Interpretive Loop, just one mile, tells of the desert’s creative and symbiotic survivors including the pinyon jay, the pinyon mouse, biological soil crust (cryptobiotic soil)… and me. Okay, maybe there wasn’t a sign about me, but that day I felt like there should be. We took this trail unhurriedly for my ankle as it was my first nonessential walking in over six weeks and my first time without a boot for that long as well. It was an absolute delight! Forty-two degrees felt warmer than expected between the radiating rock, sunny skies, and lack of wind. Frankly, I would have found a blizzard acceptable.

Later that day, we investigated some history and rocks by visiting the Yellow Cat Mining District just north of Arches and searching for agate and jasper nearby. Online, we’d read accounts of the road to Yellow Cat being rough. It is not. I’m sure if you jumped on one of the route’s many offshoots you would be in for a rougher ride. However, the main path is appropriate for almost any vehicle.

The extraction of radioactive ores (uranium and vanadium) at the Yellow Cat Mining District began in the early 1900s and ceased in the mid-1960s. The area was placed in the Grand County Register of Historic Places in 1998 due to its significance. While we didn’t have enough daylight to fully explore all the mines’ leftover structures, machineries, and crevices, we checked out a two-story building, the hillsides’ many adit openings, and the remnants of some ancient vehicles. We noticed many vent pipes dotting the landscape, a testament to just how far and plentiful the network of tunnels extended in the region.

When daylight began to dim, we commenced rockhounding operations without further delay. As we are not serious enough rockhounds to be particularly picky about specimens, we found some agate and jasper we were thrilled over with about half an hour of searching.

The next day, the high was just 41 degrees, yet we were undeterred. We did a mild, self-guided walking tour around the historic center of town as a compromise for my ankle, which was about 0.75 miles. On that we made thirteen stops to view structures like Star Hall, which was built in 1906 and is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Neals Olson Home, and the Old Courthouse and Jail Building. Most of these were constructed between the mid-1880s and the first decade of the 1900s, with a few newer outliers. The stroll was a fantastic way to slow down and appreciate noteworthy structures we may not have fully noticed before.

Since my feet couldn’t take me far, later that day we relied on a vehicle. We did the T-Rex 4×4 U-Drive Experience to Hurrah Pass tour. With an elevation of 4,780 feet, Hurrah Pass divides the Colorado River from Kane Springs Canyon. As the name of this tour suggests, we got to drive. Well, Jason got to drive as I didn’t want to with a weak peddle foot.

To get to Hurrah Pass, you take Kane Springs Road until it becomes Hurrah Pass Road. Then, you head up through the Moenkopi Formation, followed by Navajo Sandstone, and finally the Wingate Formation to the pass’ apex. The whole trip from Moab is around 30 miles, but the last section starting at Hurrah Pass Road is the only tricky bit. That concluding part is not terribly technical. However, it rides along cliffs with the base of Kane Springs Canyon hundreds of feet below, so a problem with heights is the main problem. I just had to advert my eyes. We had done some of this route before, but we were in new territory beyond Hunter Canyon.

From Hurrah Pass, potash evaporation ponds, Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, and Kane Creek Canyon all surround you. It isn’t as scenic as some places around Moab but still impressive.

On our way home the next day, we made two stops of discovery. The first was the Athena Launch Complex that was part of the Utah Launch Complex near Green River (also called the Green River Test Site). This Cold War-era compound became active in 1962 as part of the Air Force’s program to test its Advanced Ballistic Re-entry System (ABRES). It was used by the Air Force until 1973. During that time, 141 Athena missiles were fired. The Army also used the site starting in 1971 to test their nuclear-capable Pershing missile. Their operations halted in 1975 after the launch of 61 missiles. After employing hundreds of Green River residents for nearly two decades, the complex was decommissioned in 1979. We learned this information following our visit. Hence, we knew little about what the site was used for or what we would find as we explored it. Would you like to know what you can find? Then, read on.

You can freely wander this site’s three launch pads and other assorted structures. The high fences and bright lights that once deterred the unwanted are now warped and broken. We spent hours examining the equipment and buildings trying to figure out what we were looking at. It definitely satiated our curiosity craving!

The repetition of the site’s three launch pads allowed us to gradually piece together purpose and design. Portions missing on one endured on others. The TCEE tracks were gone on Pad 3, the first one we encountered. We thought we might be looking at a helicopter pad, but the grooves that seemed like they once held some sort of rail line confused me. Pad 2, our second pad, still had its rails. So, I realized I was right about there once being tracks. Pad 1, the most intact pad, was the last one we visited. After we had puzzled over and imagined how things worked on the other two, it was gratifying to see a much more complete TCEE (Temperature Controlled Environmental Enclosures) system.

Other mysteries didn’t entirely get solved until following our outing. The first pad we inspected had a building nearby with only one wall standing. We thought the other three might have just fallen down until we came across another of the same type of structure at the next pad. But why buildings with only one wall? They appeared to have HVAC components in them. We were puzzled. It was only after some online research that we ascertained ultra-high quality (UHQ) blast shields were used to protect cooling ducts at each launch pad. That’s why those edifices only had walls on one side; they were blast shields. Duh!

The gantry equipment used as scaffolding around the missiles, some of which was lying around Pad 2, also perplexed us. We had no idea what it was and thought it might have slid on the tracks running along the concrete, but it seemed too long to do so. This was another enigma internet information elucidated. Historical puzzles are a blast!

After that enthralling afternoon, we visited the Prehistoric Museum in Price. We’d passed this museum countless times going to Moab. It had always intrigued us, but we had never taken the time to stop. We arrived there one hour and 20 minutes before closing. While we were told the average person spends 45 minutes to an hour at the museum, I am not the average museum guest. I didn’t even make it through one of its two wings, but we did hurry through most of the Horns and Tusks section, the museum’s current temporary exhibit, shortly before closing. It covered the outlandish and whacky evolution of frills, tusks, antlers, horns, and other headgear. Cool!

I loved that this museum focuses on Utah from the beginnings of the Earth and includes many rock and fossil specimens specifically from the state. Jason and I will certainly be heading back to check out what we missed.

The verdict on Moab sans hiking and biking? A broken foot can halt certain activities, but it can’t halt adventure. Our Moab trip was atypical in pastimes but typical in that we had an amazing stay.