We are off to the US and join friends in Moab, Utah for some fun hiking and golf without snow or ice. It is 18 hours to Moab, which is east of Provo, Utah and close to the Colorado border, so we are packed and decide to get an early start on Thursday the 24th. The drive south thru BC to Osoyoos is beautiful as all the fruit trees are orange and red this time of year. We stayed in Osoyoos for the night and hit the border at 6:30. We clear the border in 20 seconds! No questions other than, how long are you staying and a nice guy. Go figure!
We have a long day and get to Twin Falls, Idaho. We have earmarked Twin Falls as a cool place to stop and check out Shoshone Falls. These Falls are majestic and are referred to as Niagara of the West. The Falls are fed by the Snake River, which is a tributary of the Columbia River and are 212 feet high and 900 feet wide.
So, the typical waterfall flow in fall is 400 CFS (cubic feet per second), which is when we photographed, and the typical flow in spring is 10,000 CFS.
In perspective, 212 feet high is higher than Niagara Falls.
So, off to Moab, thru Salt Lake City, and once we turn off of highway 15, east, the scenery gets outstanding thru the iron rich mountains. We have golf at the Moab Golf and Country Club the next morning. 
Great views and fun golf! For the record, Reg and Ken smoked Bill and Ray and Bill’s creative scorekeeping had the guys beat the girls by 1 stroke. Bill tried creative scorekeeping for the guys match, but too much to overcome!
We are staying in Moab, which is a City of 5,000 people known for uranium mining, potash and more recently tourism. ATV’s and Motorcycling are huge here and draw thousands of tourists to the vast array of off road trails that go forever.Moab is at 4000 feet elevation, so a tad cool in the morning at this time of year. Uranium was discovered here in the early 20th century to establish the town until us tourists arrived. Today, many Utahans have second homes here for the outdoor activities and arid climate.
Moab is home to two National Parks, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.
Our first hiking trip is to Arches the next morning and the landscape is magnificent.
Our day at Arches National Park was outstanding as scenery is again, magnificent. As you can see temps were cool in the morning but warmed up for the afternoon. We did three different hikes this day of about 10 miles total.
The Delicate Arch! Next time you see a Utah license plate, this is it.
Many sites here have petroglyphs, or Native carvings dating to 600 AD, as seen on the rocks above that were near the Wolfe Cabin.
This is our group at the Grand River Overlook in Arches National Park.
The next day was off to Canyonlands National Park for more hiking, scenery and companionship.
From these overlooks, we could see the confluence of the Colorado River and the Green River as it flows into the Grand Canyon a few hundred miles away. There are hundreds of miles of ATV trails on the lower mesas here and are a huge tourist attraction for out doors folks. This whole area is a postcard for deep canyons, towering mesas, pinnacles, cliffs and spires carved into the rock.
Another great day!
Time for cake and celebration that night! Ray and Kelly celebrate 42 years married. They both hike like they are age 42, even Kelly with her brand new hip.
Our last day is a drive along the Colorado River to Longbow arch and a nice hike up the canyon to some more great scenery.
The trails here are really well marked and the girls loved the availability of washrooms to start every hike. They are now spoiled for sure.
Another plumber missing the mark!
Most of the hiking was quite easy as walking on solid rock. Hard not to keep looking around you though.
God must have carved this guy
The peaceful Colorado River.
We are done. We had plans to maybe stop in Flagstaff and the Canyon but the whole group was looking forward to getting to our winter home in Southern California. Good times again with Bill and Shirley, Ray and Kelly and Reg and Edie that will be cherished for a lifetime and beyond
Wow! What amazing scenery!
That looks like a wonderful trip. Glad you guys had such an amazing time.
Thanks for sharing all the beautiful pictures.
I do like Utah, such beautiful scenery. Would like to return and do a few different hikes. So many to choose from. Glad you enjoyed your trip.