Cheeseburger in Paradise

While driving through a neighbourhood on the w/e close to our Moab RV park we noticed a local burger joint with a line-up and a large gathering of people on their outdoor patio. The next day we returned to Milt's Stop & Eat to find a similar crowd and decided we should check it out (at least I had too). While waiting for my Swiss Mushroom burger, which was outstanding, I learned a little more about Milt's. Built in 1954 and still utilizing the original bar stools at their inside counter, their small establishment was on the original main street but Main Street is now several blocks away. The locals still know where to find it and it is worth a visit for anyone travelling through Moab.

We also found time for a couple of nice hikes to finish off our Moab stay. On Saturday we drove 15 km's west of Moab to hike in Bootlegger Canyon out to Corona Arch which had been recommended by a local. The beautiful arch which has a 100 metre span was also a hit with the younger generation. Being on state land, they had been given permission to set up a charity supported rope swing from the top of the arch. Similar to a bungee jump it was fascinating to watch bold, then terrified people get harnessed in and then jump from the top of the 45 metre high arch and then swing through the arch several metres off the ground at the bottom and back up the other side finally coming to rest a few minutes later. If there was water at the bottom of the arch I might have been tempted but certainly not with a rock landing.

The next day we went on a much quieter hike out into Hunter Canyon. We only encountered a few other couples during our 3 hour hike along the bottom of the narrow canyon, crossing the river (turned into a stream by the lack of rainfall) several times along the way. Great views all the way including a few more arches and we could have gone further if I hadn't been thinking about our visit to Milt's as a reward for our efforts. After 10 days in the Moab area (do you think we liked it?) it was time to be on our way even though we had to make the difficult decison to forego the upcoming Pumpkin Chuckin Festival which sounded like a lot of fun.

On Monday we drove 100 km's south of Moab to the lower section of Canyonlands NP, the Needles district. Much less crowded than Island in the Sky, we were still lucky to secure one of the few campsites available that day (26 in total) by arriving early in the morning. We spent the day touring the entire park and covering several short hikes including Elephant Hill (6 km's) which was the longest and most scenic. With fewer people on the trails it was amazingly quiet and within the canyon we could actually hear the wings flapping as birds flew by. We had another wonderful campfire that evening and being in the middle of nowhere we once again saw several shooting stars without paying a lot of attention to the night time sky.

Yesterday evening we landed in Cortez, Colorado (SW corner of the state) and we spent the whole day today at Mesa Verde National Park. While the canyon views were not as spectacular as we found in Utah, the history certainly was. The park is the home of over 600 ancient villages in the canyons that were built under the rock walls midway up the canyon......either to protect them from the weather or from other people, theories which are still being debated. The ruins are still in remarkable shape even though they date from 600 - 1300 AD when the Ancestral Puebloans suddenly left the area.

Tomorrow morning we will head towards the Grand Canyon passing through the Four Corners, the only spot in the U.S. where four states connect. Canada also has a similar version of intersecting regions but I would guess that very few Canadians could figure out where it is even though we are quite spread out.