Goblins!

   
     Wind howled, sand scoured and clawed at the windows as the fearless adventures drove the final section of road before the junction. They had heard of the Goblins, but they didn't truly comprehend the danger that awaited them at their final destination. Darkness enveloped them as the sun retreated from encroaching night. Their destination was know, the danger was not!

     No that I've got the overly melodramatic out of my system! Two good friends of mine and I took some much needed time off of work and I needed to get back into some landscapes. I had a back injury I've been nursing and I felt now was the time to make my return to the wild. Where is a great place to visit in November with a cold front rushing towards you. You head for the desert and away from the approaching snow. Like usual, all of the weather oracles were scaring the populace, by declaring "stormmageddon" was on it's way and we are all going to die. The warning of six to eight inches was all for not, and the valley snow never fell. The wind was terrible however and it battered us all the way there.
   
     We made it to are campsite and had plenty of time to set up camp. We started a fire and dinner, just as the wind died down. It was cold and dropped into the twenties. I use a canvas tent and heater, so we slept quite well. When we awoke and after breakfast, we headed straight for Little wild horse slot canyon. Like nearly all slot canyons, they start wide and get narrow the deeper in you go.

     The trailhead had quite a few vehicle and we were a little surprised by this due to the cold temperatures. The sun was out and the skies completely free of clouds, so we were very excited by the prospects of what we were about to see.

     The entrance was very muddy, so we elected to head up to the left and two the junction between Little Wild horse and Bell canyons.

     We took little wild horse because we suspected water and mud in Bell.

 

     The fearless adventures, well nearly, fearless. Jami, Cory, and myself.

     About halfway in we did find some graffiti scratched into the walls. I can't believe people still do this!

    No matter how you feel about cairns, some people hate them in way I'll never understand. I liked the textures, so I took this picture. I left them as I found them simple because I know they will not survive the next flood inside the canyon.

      We did not go all the way to the end of Little wild horse and turned around to go visit Goblin Valley state park. It took an hour or so to get out and the sun was on it's way down when we made it into the park. The light was nice, but was changing rapidly, so we hurried through the valley shooting.

     I call this one the Goblin king.

      After the last light left the valley, we headed back to camp and were in our bags after a couple hours chatting about the days events in front of the fire. The next morning we broke camp and left the area better than we found it. Jami and I took the scenic route 24 through Capitol reef and scoped out a possible area for our next adventure.

    Near the park HQ, we saw this goodlookin' fella. What luck!

     After a couple hours, we headed home. What a great trip and it was quite nice putting my hiking boots back on!