Day 4: Goblin Valley

This morning was the first morning we were up against stuffing everything back into the car the way it was on the trip out, and it definitely wasn't as easy the second time around. We headed out to the very tip of the plateau we stayed on, called Dead Horse Point and checked out the view. We've decided we no longer need to see the Grand Canyon in our lifetimes, as the view from this area seemed to be just as spectacular and almost 360 degrees.




Next on the day's itinerary was a stop in Moab, pretty much the only place to buy diesel in 100 square miles and where the locals all have Chaco-sandal strap tans darker than death. We tooled around for a while, purchased the mandatory couple of souvenirs and then loaded up with ice and diesel for what we thought was going to be a quick 1 hour trip over to Goblin State Park. We were a bit confused as to why there was an unmarked dirt road leading to the park, and our suspicions were confirmed after 2 minutes of driving on the bumpiest, most pot-holed and washed away gravel road we had every seen. The road took us along ravines, cliffs and very possibly many body drop-off sites, most likely used by multiple Mexican drug cartels. After 45 minutes of not seeing a single trace of human or animal life, we hit blacktop and a sign that proclaimed our destination, and at this point, we realized we had taken the hardest, most discreet and challenging cattle road in all of Utah.

Now that our silver car could have blended in perfectly with the red rock landscape, due to the seemingly inch-thick layer of Utah dust, we headed down the road to the land of goblins. Besides wanting to see the unique rock structures, we decided to visit Goblin State Park to visit an old Metamora high school friend of Stephanie, Sarah Siefken, who is a managing park ranger here. The stone structures at this park resembled fields of mushrooms, or whatever else you think they may look like.



The landscape really made us feel like we were on Discovery's Meerkat Manor, because everything resembled termite mounds and burrows. Later on at the campsite, swarms of gnats and a vacationing juvenile delinquent campers deterred us from really taking in the scenery. We silently thanked Dad for insisting that we pack head nets.



We retired to our tent early to wait for the nuisances to die down.
In the evening, we headed over to the ranger station to catch up with Sarah and we met some other rangers she works with. Coincidentally, all three of them are from central Illinois. This gave Steph a chance to learn more about park management and the nocturnal wildlife of the area, prompting our new friend Mike to fetch his new pet. He was happy to show off his new catch of the day, a bio-illuminating scorpion which he had caught earlier that day.