We visited Moab last fall after being absent from its vermillion curves for a year. I’m sorry Moab! We still love you. I hate to offer excuses, but there’s been this whole COVID thing…

This trip was all about showing off some of Moab’s standards to my sister’s family, none of whom had been to Moab before. Amazing newcomers in Moab is as simple as walking them outside, so Jason and I can’t take much credit for our inevitable impress success.

With the world warming up, November didn’t feel like November in Moab. The only giveaway of the season was the lack of light. How are you supposed to see everything you want to with a 5:30 cutoff? Come on Mother Nature, let’s be reasonable.

We spent our first day in Arches National Park. After completing the hike to Delicate Arch, a Moab essential, we covered about three miles in the Devils Garden to see Landscape, Navajo, Tunnel, Pine Tree, and Partition Arch. We navigated most of our return route in darkness, including a tricky fin. Despite our vision deficiency, the adventure was well received by our juvenile companions.

Some of the kids requested a ramble on the Fisher Towers Trail, a wish we happily accommodated the next day. The Fisher Towers are a collection of channeled sandstone spires frosted by layers of burgundy mud. The largest of these, The Titan, is believed to be the tallest free-standing natural tower in the United States at 900 feet. Those pillars aren’t the only fascinating rock formations along this 4.5-mile route though. Bulbous hoodoos seem to mushroom out of the sand, and the final viewpoint overlooks a valley inhabited by a jumble of warped stone figures. Although the weather was more pleasant than we had a right to expect, the wind began accelerating in a chaotic manner near the end of our journey. Outbursts sent fistfuls of dirt into our faces and down our shirts. Our ears and pockets were full of grit by the time we reached the trailhead.

The following day, we visited Moab Giants, a fun dinosaur park and museum near town. Moab Giants focuses on the ancient creatures who once roamed the area with an emphasis on their tracks. On Moab Giant’s Dinosaur Trail, over 100 full-sized replicas can be viewed along with footprint information. The educational and photographical opportunities are plentiful, and we enjoyed both equally.

Before heading home, we detoured to the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park. Between the relentless wind and 45 degrees, Canyonlands was barely tolerable with abundant jackets. Yup, just like that, late fall was back. We hiked to Mesa Arch, a trail short enough to be doable in the cold, and stopped at overlooks of Shafer Canyon and the Grand View Point.

Although we hiked about 12 miles during our stay, fitness did not follow. The food available in Moab makes the exercise attained inconsequential. Between South African fare from Hidden Cuisine, drunken noodles from Thai Bella, donuts from Doughbird, breakfast delights from Love Muffin, and quesadillas from the Quesadilla Mobilla, we were well fed. We’ll just leave it at that.

How did our young cohorts do with all this adventuring? It took our group much longer to finish each undertaking than expected, but our sluggish spirits remained exuberant. If something takes twice as long, it means you enjoyed it twice as much, right? How did Moab do? It seemed more crowded than normal for November. Maybe others have discovered my November trick. (Dang it!) Or maybe COVID has altered vacation habits.

Moab, I swear I’ll not stay away so long again… unless another pandemic hits, and I have to survive on pickles and pecans while only communicating with the outside world through toilet paper signals. I guarantee nothing in that case. After all, I wouldn’t want to make any two-ply promises.

Jason and I needed a break this fall, and a break is exactly what we got in an excursion to Cedar Breaks and Brian Head with a sister. When you get to take a break to a break, you know it’s going to be good.

Jason and I stopped at Parowan Gap on the way to Brian Head. There, an impressive array of petroglyphs has accumulated from different cultures over more than 1000 years, including the Fremont, Paiute, and Hopi. Although Parowan Gap is just a few minutes off I-15, we had never even heard of it until this trip. If you are passing through Utah by way of I-15, this is a great quick detour near Parowan.

The next morning, we began our adventuring in earnest. We rented a six-seat UTV, a Ranger Crew 1000, and headed skyward. We rode it up to the Twisted Forest Trail in Ashdown Gorge and then took to our feet. The Twisted Forest Trail wanders through sparse bristlecone pines atop white and ginger streaked hillsides to a dramatic precipice.

Bristlecone pines are one of the oldest organisms in the world and are only found in six states. They can live over 5,000 years in harsh high-elevation climates. Between their fascinating figures and the views along the dizzying ridgeline, we didn’t mind undertaking this mile-long trek twice to allow a missing member of our group to also enjoy it.

After a double take of the Twisted Forest, we drove our UTV to the crest of High Mountain, which offered extensive outlooks on Cedar Breaks from its hidden backside.

The next day, we hiked at 10,000 feet above hoodoos, fins, arches, and gulches in Cedar Breaks National Monument. At Cedar Breaks, iron and manganese have been shaped by ice, wind, and faults over millions of years to create some of nature’s most exquisite geographic art. A couple of the kids in our group had never been to Cedar Breaks making the Ramparts Trail to Spectra Point and the Ramparts Overlook a must. Although this is probably the most popular path in the monument, it feels uncharacteristically hazardous for a standard route with no rails in most places and a 2,000-foot drop-off unnervingly close.

We added another dash of adventure to our trek with an extra spur from the Ramparts Overlook to Bartizan Arch, a new route for all of us. In total, we only rambled about five miles, but we worked hard for those steps. Wind whipped about us with gusts up to 50 MPH, and our elevation changed over 1,200 feet. When you are already at 10,000 feet, a little elevation gain goes a long way.

Our trip passed fast, and soon it was time to go home. However, we weren’t ready to relinquish just yet. We let the leisure linger a little with a hike to Hidden Haven Waterfall, just a 1.4-mile undertaking. The journey to this cascade comes with a little scrambling and creek hopping, but it is easy enough for all ages.

Afterward, we went to Yankee Meadows Reservoir for a picnic. I can’t say I’d recommend that area currently. It was badly burned by a fire in 2017. While it is starting to regrow, there are more cowpies and charred bark than living plants at this point.

Our little break to a large break held impactful scenery and a big impact on sanity. Yes, in case you are wondering, there is still a world outside your walls, and it continues to be magnificent.