Dead Horse Point State Park; on to Ogden, UT

[This post covers Wed 9/2 evening through Fri 9/4 morning]

The drive to Dead Horse Point SP was familiar, as we had covered this route on our way to Islands in The Sky a few days earlier. The entrance to the park is just a few miles from where we had camped at Horsethief CG. Fortunately, it's an easy drive (less than an hour from Moab) and the scenery never gets old. 

At 5,362 acres, Dead Horse is, by far, the smallest park we've visited. It's basically a small peninsula that juts out above a twisty turn of the Colorado River. It's got a few hiking trails that mostly trace the rim of the canyon, and a network of mountain-biking trails to the north. Its namesake viewpoint, at the southern tip of the park, sits at 5,900' elevation, about 1,000' above the river. To get there, you have to drive (or walk or bike) through a ~30-foot wide section with 1,000-foot drop-off on either side. Right up my alley.

We camped at Kayenta CG, a very nice, clean spot with nice amenities (large, clean bathrooms nearby and a covered picnic table in our site). After setting up camp, we headed out for a short hike to work out some of the kinks from the 14-mile trek the day before. We headed to the west rim trail and the Big Horn Overlook - another (smaller) peninsula that juts out above the canyon. Then crossed to the East Rim trail and the Basin Overlook, with views of the Colorado.

That point is the Big Horn Overlook

Near the Basin Overlook with the Colorado River below

At the start of the hike, we both commented on how surprisingly good our legs felt after the Needles hike. After a couple miles, we started feeling a little sluggish. By the 4-mile mark, I was done, and we headed back to camp - about 5 miles total.

Chicken curry over rice for dinner, accompanied by some tasty Moab microbrews. We cleaned up as the sun set, watched some early stars and the rise of the full, 'corn' moon, then climbed into bed around 9:00pm. Up with the sun, we had oatmeal and coffee in camp before packing up and heading to the Dead Horse Point viewpoint.

A viewpoint above the viewpoint

We drove back to check out the nice, modern visitor center, then decided to hop on our bikes for a short ride out to another viewpoint. The trail was labeled as 'easy' but was definitely more technical than anything I'd ridden since my 20's. We only rode a mile or so, but it was still really fun.

Peeking over the edge - at least she's wearing a helmet :)

We loaded up the bikes and headed out for our 4+ hour drive to Ogden, UT. The drive was easy - until we got to Provo when we started to hit heavy traffic for the Provo/SLC/Ogden stretch along highway 15. It had been a while since we'd experienced 5 lanes of highway traffic.

In Ogden, we stopped at the address where my maternal grandfather lived from 1893-1907 (age 6-19) with his mother, grandmother, and step-grandfather - a railroad executive. We checked into our room at the Hampton Inn & Suites (nice spot), checked in with my siblings on our weekly Zoom call, then headed out to a nice dinner at an outdoor table at Union Grill. After dinner, we walked through historic 25th Street and on to Union Station before heading back to the hotel. Ogden has a great, old-western-railroad-town feel. It was really fun to imagine what it might have been like when my grandfather lived here.

Historic Union Station

Railroad Museum

Early to bed, up around 6:45, breakfast at the hotel. Just booked a room in Pendleton, OR, so we've got about 8hrs of driving today. Karri's checking out hiking/biking/sightseeing options along the way. 

Song Spot: Nothing in particular. We spent a big chunk of the drive laughing while listening to 'The Monkey Wrench Gang' (book on tape).

Hiking: ~5mi (Thu)

Biking: ~1.5mi (Fri)