Holy Week in Moab

I'd been a Jeeper for years, and didn't even know

Every year during the week before Easter, somewhere around ten thousand Jeeps converge on Moab, Utah for what can only be described as a hajj-like pilgrimage. There are Jeeps of every vintage and modification, some of them so extreme that they’re not even street legal and must be trailered in.

I’d been a Jeeper for nearly five years, but had never heard of the Easter Jeep Safari. We arrived from the other side of Utah with a fierce storm chasing us to find that there was “no room at the inn.”

Only a few of the Jeeps in Moab during Safari Week, Utah, 2010

We arrived right in the middle of it, and there was only one RV spot left in the entire town — and it was too short for my 30-ft motorhome. They graciously allowed me to squeeze in sideways (the site was wider than it is long), parking the Jeep a short walk away. At least I had a Jeep®, so I fit right in. I shall be forever grateful to the management of the Moab KOA for allowing that.

Somewhere in the time since leaving Valley of Fire, I’d had a job interview and had been hired for a position in Colorado. Only one problem: I’d left my Social Security card locked up in Tennessee with the furniture and household items. My new employer needed a copy of the card. We were going to have to go to Grand Junction, 60-some miles away and in the direction we were going anyway, to visit the only Social Security office within hundreds of miles, and get a new one. But not before my lady and I had a chance to see Arches National Park. We took a whirlwind visit.

The first place in Arches that you come to is a place they’ve dubbed Park Avenue.

Park Avenue in Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

It’s not a real avenue: you can’t drive down it. But there is a hiking trail that goes from this viewpoint to the next one, down there at the bottom. Down there is a feature they’ve named The Three Gossips:

The Three Gossips, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

They do look like three church women in traditional garb.

I had heard about the so-called “Brigham Young Memorial” from my (non-Mormon) friend Bruce in Eugene, Oregon so I wasn’t all that surprised when it came into view. Right next to the road! OMG… Right out there in front of God and everyone… My lady yelled “Stop! STOP! Take a picture!” For some reason, women are fascinated by… uh, that thing. It’s illegal to pull off the road there, but it was obvious that lots of people had done it. So I obeyed, hoping a cop didn’t come by.

Rock pinnacles in Arches National Park

Not gonna point it out, but if you see it, you see it. After which it can’t be unseen… For some reason, my camera-mounted GPS didn’t record this location so if you want to go there, you’ll have to find it yourself. Which you will; it’s pretty obvious as you drive up the one paved, dead-end road.

Nearby is a somewhat more wholesome sight that the Park calls The Windows:

Two of The Windows (small arches) in Arches National Park, Utah

There is a popular hiking trail that goes to the other side of them.

There are many more sights to see in Arches: Double Arch, Delicate Arch, Sand Dune Arch, the Fiery Furnace, the Marching Men, Tower Arch, the Devil’s Garden, and the campground at the end of the road. Some years later I moved to Grand Junction and have taken many photos in this park, so there will be more later.

This is the heavenly view from the campground, and yes, you can get an RV in there:

The LaSal Mountains as seen from the campground in Arches National Park.

Those mountains fascinated me, and still do. I had seen them at a distance from I-70 the year before when driving my new motorhome cross-country after buying it (see “Maiden Voyage,” April 2) and was intensely curious about them. I’ll talk about them in a later post.

The campground is very nice. It has spots for RVs, even 40 footers, picnic tables, fire pits, and flush toilets. There is no potable water, so fill up before you go in. Also no dump station or cellular service. If you want firewood, you have to buy it at the Park entrance, which is a 30-minute drive, each way, away — so do yourself a favor and buy it on your way in.

If you want to camp there anytime in March through October, you had better make a reservation. Months ahead of time.

The campground is at the end of the road unless you have four wheel drive. I did of course but it had been raining and you don’t go there when it’s wet. There will be another story about that later.

We left for Grand Junction, Colorado the next morning.