I was pretty bored on Saturday and thought that I would go explore a new place: Lower Price River Road.  This was the 20th anniversary of the attacks on 9-11 and I was listening to a few podcasts about the events that day.   I was remembering my own experience too.

I was a freshman in high school when it happened.  We were getting ready for school when my brother came upstairs and said that something hit the world trade tower in New York.  I embarrassingly had no idea what he was talking about.  We went to school and I went to my first period, band class, as normal.

When I got to class there was a TV set up in the middle of the room.  Our band teacher, Mr. Hendricks, stopped class and we were all watching the news.  He said that class was dismissed, but if we wanted to talk to him he was available.  I remember hearing him say, “our world will never be the same.”  He was right.

Back to the trek…

It was raining very hard on the way down through Spanish Fork Canyon and also in Price, but once I got to Wellington and beyond it was clear or partly cloudy.

I got to Woodside at about 1pm and headed down Lower Price River Road.  It was dirt and gravel and easy to drive through for the most part.  I stopped several times to get pictures and enjoy the scenery. I didn’t see any petroglyphs, but I did see this “cowboy glyph” of a cow skull.

I was looking for rock art this trip.  I knew there were some and I was planning on hiking and using my drone as much as I could.  After about 45 minutes of exploring I heard some thunder over head.  I was getting concerned since the clear or partly cloudy day had began to turn nasty.  The wind picked up and all of a sudden started pouring rain.  This was not good for me.  I was already down a hill that was quickly turning into mud – I had to drive back up this!

The rain was pouring and collecting in little pools on the road.  I was slipping and having trouble making it up this hill.  It wasn’t anything too dangerous, but if I was about 10 minutes late, I would probably have to spend a day or two stuck until the mud dried.  I continued back through the canyon and realized that the worst was yet to come.   The nice dirt road I used before was now a giant mud slough all the way back to the highway!  The rain came down harder and I was praying that I wouldn’t get stuck out here.  If I did get stuck, I could simply just use my satellite messenger to message for help, but still!  I wanted to keep exploring, but safety first. It was my lucky day.  I got out just in time before my tires just couldn’t take the mud anymore.  I made it to the highway and decided to head to Moab for the rest of the day. 

I had all my camping gear and so this was no big deal for me.  The rain came down harder and cleaned off my windshield, then it stopped.  I drove to Moab and planned to hike to Longbow Arch.  This hike is about 2.2 miles roundtrip and it was nice to get out of the car.

After the hike I continued my drive to Bluff to camp there.

I slept pretty terrible last night.  I think I was just too tired.  Anyway, I took down camp and made some breakfast and headed out to my first destination of the day: some carved steps!  These steps were a mystery for me.   I couldn’t figure out why they would be here.  I found these about a month ago through my usual methods and made the 2 mile trek to see them.

It was a very quiet spot and kind of creepy since I found what I thought was cougar or bear scat.  I hiked to the side of the canyon where I saw the carved steps.  There are several dozen carved steps and they all look very old.  I also found this strange circle with a bowl around it. 

After this, I headed home!