Canyonlands by Water

We asked the campground staff for a recommendation of a trip on the Colorado River that wasn't too rough.  We've seen some of the rapids on the river during this trip, and they're pretty rough.  The woman at the campground recommended a jet boat tour of Canyonlands, and after reading some very good reviews on TripAdvisor, we called to make a reservation.  We had a choice of a four hour daytime trip or a 1.5 hour sunset trip, but the sunset trip wasn't available today.  So the daytime trip it was.

To make our 1:00 p.m. departure, we left Arches after our hike at Devil's Garden and went to grab a quick lunch before it was time to get to the boat dock. I had hoped to make it through the whole trip without eating fast food, but we were in a pinch, so we grabbed lunch at Wendy's.

Our boat captain/tour guide Rory was outstanding. He was funny and very knowledgeable about the area. He's a Moab native - born and raised there. The kids really liked him because he talked to them and cracked jokes with them.

The boat went pretty fast, and Rory would stop from time to time to tell us stories about the river, the landscape and certain formations.  He couldn't say much while the boat was moving, because it got pretty loud.  Wouldn't you know it - I brought 10 pairs of ear plugs two thousand miles across country, but left them in the Jeep today.  By now it's clear that I'm the wimp in the family.  I hate loud noise and am afraid of going very fast on rides. But I had heard that the best way to see Canyonlands was by water, so I was determined to do it. And I have to say, once I got over my initial fears of the speed and the noise, I had a great time. Jeff and the kids loved it.  



Jug Handle Arch



Well, to be exact, Ruth had some issues part way though the ride when storm clouds appeared overhead. She was worried there would be a thunderstorm and we would get hit my lightning. It started to rain a bit and the water got a little choppy. But as people in every city we visit say, if you don't like the weather, just wait a minute. And that's what happened. In a few minutes, we got out from under the clouds and eventually even found the sun.

We passed so much beautiful scenery along the ride. Rory pointed out interesting things, like the spot where they filmed Thelma and Louise going off a cliff. In the movie it happened in the Grand Canyon, but it was really filmed in Moab. Hundreds of movies and commercials are filmed here. He showed us where they shot the commercial where the guy kisses his wife after breakfast and says he's going to work, and then parachutes off the cliff his house is on.  I've seen the commercial. 

He also pointed out a rock that looked like the profile of Richard Nixon.  It was a dead ringer.

Henry finally got to see some desert bighorn sheep, but sadly, we weren't quick enough to take a pictures of them. There's a section of the Colorado River where a train goes in and out, coming in empty to load up with potash mined in Moab and hauling it out. The train must have startled the sheep, and they went running alongside of the mountain. There aren't many sheep sightings, so this was really great.



Petroglyph



Near the end of the trip, Rory stopped the boat by some petroglyphs on rocks near the river.  They were carved by the Ute Indians, who chipped away at the black layer on the red rocks.  We saw carvings of bears, people and other figures.  And while we stopped, we also saw a tiny lizard who made a home in a little hole in a rock in the river. 

The kids enjoyed the lemonades and cookies on the ride, despite my warnings about the lack of facilities for the next three hours, after one potty stop. Rory joked that if anyone really had to go after the potty stop, he would help them use the "facili-trees." Henry thought that was very funny.

It was a great excursion, well worth the money, and we'd recommend it to anyone visiting Moab, Canyonlands or Arches.