We arrived late in Moab, so we found an RV park/campground in town for the night called Slickrock. The RV and tent sites are very close together, but the tent pads are covered, which helped keep us warmer during the night. There are also clean bathrooms and showers, all for the price of $20/night. Since it was dark and cold by the time we were set up, we went next door to Atomic Lounge for a burger and a beer.
The next morning, we packed up and went in search of another campsite, hoping to find a more peaceful, beautiful location. We started down US128 heading east. There are several first come first serve campgrounds along the Colorado River, each with only 10-20 campsites. We drove until we found an open site that we liked at Big Bend Campground, site #19. It’s adjacent to site #18, so a little less privacy than some of the other sites we passed, but the view of the river was worth it. Our campground had pit toilets (all we saw had them) and allows RVs. We cooked lunch and relaxed for a while. Then we drove to Arches National Park to pick up some maps and plan our next few days.
At this point, it appeared that all of our remaining mornings were going to be cold, so we got a later start than we wanted. When we got to Arches around 10 am, it was still very chilly! We drove to the Devil’s Garden trailhead for the Devil’s Garden Loop hike (7.2 miles). The hike is the longest in the park and showcases many arches along the way. The first mile out to Landscape Arch is packed stone; there is also a short side trail that takes you to Tunnel Arch and Primitive Arch. This portion of the trail is very busy, but once you pass Landscape Arch, the trail becomes much sandier and involves some light rock scrambling, so the crowds peter out. The next arches we saw were Navajo and Partition Arches (0.4- and 0.6-mile side trips, respectively, and both worth it). Then we continued to the Double O Arch. From Double O, we could have turned around and hiked back the way we came, or we could complete the loop by hiking the primitive trail (similar terrain, marked by small cairns). There is also a side trail to Black Angel (not an arch), but we decided to skip this and continue along the primitive trail. A final side trip to Private Arch caps off the arch viewings along this trail. The primitive trail is approximately 2 miles before it meets back up with the packed stone trail at Landscape Arch. Overall, the hike took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Afterwards, we planned to hike the Windows area, but when we pulled up, it was packed and there was very limited parking, so we skipped it. You can see some of these arches from the parking area but would be worth the short (0.7 and 0.5 mile) walks to get up close.
Instead, our tent neighbors (who were very nice!) had told us about an art festival taking place in Moab for the week. Artists come to Moab and paint pieces during the week. The festival then culminates in a street fair where the artwork is displayed, and awards are presented. We went into Moab to partake in the fair. The fair spanned a block in town and included food, art/jewelry stands, beer/alcohol, kids’ events/activities, live bands, and of course, the displayed contest artwork. We got a beer and hung out for about an hour or so, listening to music and perusing the stands. Afterwards, we drove to Moab Tours and booked a UTV guided tour for the next day (a big splurge, but we were under budget so far)! Then we headed back to the campsite for dinner (pork loin, mashed potatoes, and broccoli). Our tent neighbor was painting the view from our campsites. He showed us the finished product – it really captured the beauty of the area. We purchased it from him at a very reasonable price to have a nice memento from our trip!
Our UTV tour was at 1 pm the next day (wanted to do it in the afternoon so it was warmer). We cooked breakfast and relaxed in the morning. There are a few different models of UTVs, but we obviously picked the standard (cheapest) Wolverine model. The tour included our guide and five other people, which we were happy about because if no one else had joined the tour, we would have had an additional $60 charge. The first trail was called “Fins and Things” and the second trail was called “Hell’s Revenge”. Patrick started in the driver’s seat. It’s a bit nerve wracking at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a lot of fun! We went down a bunch of steep sections, which felt almost vertical at times. The tour guide told us to trust the machines! The tour was 3 hours long and we stopped twice during to take a break and enjoy the views. We also switched drivers at the breaks. There were also off-road jeeps, trucks, and dirtbikes on the trails; we didn’t think the jeeps would make it through portions of the trails, but they did! Overall it was a lot of fun! After the UTV trail, we headed back to the campsite. Our car had made it 98 days without any issues, but when we parked at the campsite, all of a sudden, the battery died. We were able to get one bar of cell service when I held the phone up above my head (can’t believe AT&T came through – they had not served us well so far). AAA came to jump us but were hesitant to replace the battery since it could have also been the alternator. Our battery terminal had been pretty corroded (AAA poured soda over it to eat away at some of the corrosion), so it was likely the battery. We ran it for a while and then cooked beef tacos for dinner.
Thankfully, the car started the next morning, so we drove to Canyonlands National Park. The Arches ranger had told us about an extremely easy, yet rewarding backcountry hike to Murphy’s Point, so we were hoping to get permits for a night there. It was about an hour drive to Canyonlands from the campsite. Lucky enough for us, Murphy’s Point was available for the following night! After securing our permit, we drove to the Aztec Butte trailhead for a quick 2-mile round trip hike, with maybe 300-400 feet of elevation gain. It took us about 45 minutes and was good to stretch our legs. There are nice views at the top of the butte and a couple ancient Pueblo granaries along the route. Following the hike, we headed back to the campsite, picking up some wood and gas on the way back and relaxing for the afternoon/evening. This would be our last night in front country!
At the top of Aztec Butte 
We cooked a nice hearty egg taco breakfast for our final morning at the campsite. Then packed up and headed to the Murphy’s Point trailhead. We were very sad to say goodbye to our campsite – it had been a great four nights! We arrived at the trailhead in the early afternoon and set off for our 1.8-mile flat hike (did I mention this was the easiest backcountry camping we had ever done?!). We found a nice campsite near the canyon edge with some shade and amazing views! Only two couples came by the entire afternoon, so we felt very secluded. We had a Mountain House Chicken Fajita (very good) and Backpacker’s Pantry Shepard’s Pie (disappointed with this one). As the sun started to set, we noticed that two other couples had walked in to enjoy the sunset, but each found their own secluded spot a good deal away from us. The sunset views were incredible. It was a great final night, and Patrick even carried back some boxed wine for us to toast to our trip. The sunset was followed up with a beautiful starry night sky. A wonderful end to our even more wonderful US roadtrip!
Backpacking Canyonlands – Age 12 
Backpacking Canyonlands – Age 29
Cheers to our last night! 
The next morning, we got up for the sunrise, which rivaled the sunset in beauty. We then packed up camp, hiked out, and made the 6-hour journey back to Denver. Thank you to everyone who hosted us along the way! We cannot express how grateful we feel to have had this opportunity. We will be spending the next couple weeks with our families in Denver and Philadelphia before starting our next part of the trip in Southeast Asia!
What a fabulous adventure this must have been. The photos were beautiful and the journaling was great. As a gear nerd, I’m curious about your gear list. Like did you use the same tent for car camping as for backpacking? Sleeping bag/pad? Packs? Kitchen? Did you use trekking poles most of the time?
Enjoy your next leg. I look forward to following you in real time.
Thanks for reading/following our adventures!! We actually have a post up specific to gear if you’re interested and how we organized the car, but yes, we used different gear for car camping and backpacking. When we were car camping, we had an exped mattress (too large to carry, but very comfortable). When we backpacked, we used standard sleeping pads. Same goes for tents – a larger 4-person Kelty for car camping and a smaller (lighter) 2-person Kelty for backpacking. Patrick started this trip not believing in trekking poles, so I had only purchased one set for myself. However, early on, Patrick decided that he liked them, so we shared the pair, each hiking with one.