A La Sals Loop

Wanting a break from the desert, we went to the mountains.

The two mountains range nearby of the La Sals, and the Abajos are small in overall length, but rise above the desert floor and give respite as the weather turns warmer or if I want a ski fix out here in the high desert.

A hike about three miles from where I am typing.

The La Sal mountains are the mountains we see by peeking out our front door. And a place where the lower trailheads are less than ten miles away. Other than some well-known mountain bike routes, our backyard mountains get lower use than the red-rock delights that make Moab so famous.

We started at the edge of the high desert and went to the snow-covered La Sal Pass.

At the lower elevations, a Moab Spring ends up being in full force with lizards, horny toads, and spring wildflowers.

At 10,000 feet?  The trees still have not budded.  Spring will not arrive for a while yet.

Our route took in a mixture of single track, ATV routes, and jeep roads.  And the only tracks beside ours we saw were some black bear prints in the snow we followed for a bit.

Some ornate arborglyphs nearly eighty years old seemed to glide us along at times.

Towards the end of the first day, the snow became deeper. Time to find a suitable dry spot with a view that took in the higher peaks, and we’d call home for the night.

PCO Joan.

The following morning able to tromp along with each step taking us lower and out of post-holing areas.

Eventually, the snow petered out, and the snow-covered ATV rack turned into a rocky ATV track with views where we could see the location of our home.

Towards the end of our trip, we took one last look from a favorite viewpoint to where we spent the previous night.

And, of course, there’s always time to stop for more spring wildflowers. 🙂

The trusty Honda waited for us at the trailhead with cold drinks, fruit, and yogurt. And fifteen minutes later arrive back home and started getting our Sunday dinner prepared.

Our backyard mountains aren’t the desert and red rocks people think of as the Moab experience, but they are there waiting for when we need a mountain fix.