Goblin Valley

Our original plan was to go back to Arches this weekend for a big hike, but we decided to save that one for later and to instead visit Goblin Valley State Park.  (Translation:  We stayed up too late the night before, slept in, and missed our early morning window to enjoy the hike before the crowds showed up. Whoopsie!)

Admission to the park is $13, then there was the cool magnet that I had to buy, and also the arrowhead that my big-eyed boy squirreled out of me.  So we ended up having a pretty fantastic day for $17.  Not too bad, though I did think $13 was a bit high for admission.  Then again, without a national parks pass, Arches and Canyonlands are both around $25 for admission, so maybe I'm just an old lady whose brain hasn't caught up with inflation.

(We're very happy we decided to buy a national parks pass when we visited our first park!  It has saved us a lot of $ and we can still use it through October.)

Straight away, Jackson bolted down the hill and into the park.  This park is a unique playground. Most parks you go to have signs everywhere telling you to stay on the trail, don't touch anything, don't climb on anything, etc.  Not Goblin Valley!  This is a giant jungle gym!  Jackson was a kid in a candy store, not knowing where to climb first.  It was funny watching him ping pong all around.

Fifteen and sweet as can be.  I love my girl so much.

I'm trying to take pictures of the flowers and foliage in each place we go, to help me remember the particulars.  I have been surprised to see how many different kinds of flowers are growing here in the desert.

Onward!  Meg really loved Goblin Valley.

Jeff and I can't seem to get a picture that accurately depicts the scale of the things we are seeing, as well as the textures and colors.  In real life, Utah's landscape is monumental!

Everywhere we have gone here, there has been a lot of talk about erosion and its effect on the rocks in Utah.

We climbed up and found a cave in the back wall, and were able to look out over the whole valley. 

After we made it to the wall, we had lunch and cooled off in the shade.  With no trees to shade and no wind, Goblin Valley gets very hot! 

Mark-down candy to celebrate making it to the wall! 

We are so blessed by our beautiful girls.  I don't know if it was this place or the candy, but they kept us laughing all day!

We all climbed until we couldn't climb any more.  I was pretty sore the next day, and Jackson told me his legs hurt, too.  But there's no rest for the weary when you've got exploring to do!  And the next day, we explored a place that rivaled the Grand Canyon.  In fact, two Cato's declared it the most beautiful, amazing place they have ever seen.  Can you guess?  Stay tuned!