In typically fashion (at least for us) the weather forecast for the weekend was sketchy. Mid 60′s on Saturday turning to snow mid afternoon with lows in the 30′s and snow all day Sunday.  We picked the boys up from school a bit early then drove down to Escalante, we had planned on camping on the Hole in the Rock Road but due to the sketchy forecast we decided to stay at the nearly empty Calf Creek campground. This was our first trip of 2012 and Parker’s (5month old) first camping trip ever so we spent the last few hours of daylight setting up camp and watching an uneventful sunset from the hogsback along highway 12.

Camp view

Getting ready for his first night in the tent.

Sunset over calf creek

Star trails and highway12 from camp

Saturday morning I was up early for sunrise and took a few shots along calf creek. We packed up the kids, topped off the tank in Escalante, and then drove out on the hole in the rock road. We made it to the small trail head by 9:30 and started hiking down Half Way Hollow towards Harris Wash and Zebra Canyon.  The approach hike would be absolutely miserable in the summer with no shade and lots of sand.  The kids were great hikers and full of energy once we reached Zebra where we spent the next two hours running, climbing, and playing in the tight slot.

Parker loves to hike.

Normally there would be water here and the canyon tightens up really quick.

The trail out of Harris wash to Half Way Hollow

Once we hiked out and made it back to the trail head the wind started to pick up so we drove down the road to Devils Garden for some lunch and to keep an eye on the weather.   A storm was moving in so we canceled our plans of hiking the slots in the dry fork of coyote and headed back to Calf Creek.

Metate Arch

The forecasted afternoon storm rolling in.

Whitney and I made a fast hike up to the lower Calf Creek falls and made it back to camp just before dark.  The rain started to fall around 10:30 and by morning it had turned to snow.  We had a long sketchy snowy drive over boulder mountain but once we made it to Torrey the roads were dry.

It was a great first camping trip for baby Parker.

False Kiva

Baby Parkers first desert hike

We spent a while soaking in the views at False Kiva before heading up the trail and back to the car. We made a short hike to Mesa Arch and then hung out at the Green River overlook for an uneventful sunset.  As soon as the sun dropped below the horizon it became windy and very cold so we piled in the car, drove to Moab, and checked into our hotel for the night.

Mesa Arch

Sunday morning I was up early and driving back to Island in the Sky to try and catch a sunrise with Mark, Tyler and Britnee. The light was totally flat and there really wasn’t a sunrise at all.  We made it back to the hotel, rounded up the rest of our group and headed into Arches to hike around in the Devils Garden.  We hiked out to Navajo Arch together as a group then a few of us completed the full primitive loop and we all met up back at the cars.

Next up was a short walk to Sand Dune Arch before the wind and rain picked back up and we headed back to the hotel. Whitney, Tyler, and I headed back into the park for sunset but were skunked yet again.

I lugged my 5lb crystal ball around the entire weekend.

60 second sunset.

Monday morning once again I was up early for sunrise and captured the first decent light of the trip. I waited in the cold for the first light to hit the north window, took a few shots, then drove to the courthouse towers to catch some reflections in the puddles that formed overnight.

We checked out of the hotel then made one last hike up to Corona where we only saw 1 other person on the trail. Gotta love Moab in the winter, it may be a bit cold but the trails and parks are so empty it’s always worth it.