Leslie and David's Wanderings: 9 May 2021 Corona (Not the Virus)

With the National Parks being so packed with people, we decided to explore some of the trails on the BLM land around Moab. We settled on the trail to Corona and Bowtie Arches. We realized being so close to Moab, this trail may be busy as well, but at least we would not have to wait for 30-45 minutes just to get in. This trail is accessed of Utah 279 which runs down in the canyon alongside the Colorado River. The road runs past a large construction site which we later learned was part of the DOE Uranium Mine Tailings Reclamation Authority (UMTRA) efforts to clean up uranium mines. When we arrived at the trailhead, the parking lot was packed but we were able to find a spot for the Behemoth. Needless to say, there were a lot of people on the trail. Being mothers day, there were a lot of families with kids on the trail as well as people with dogs. The Corona Arch trail is a three mile roundtrip hike with 548 feet of altitude gain (1863 calories burned). The first half mile of the trail was rough, with tripping hazards, and in need of some serious TLC. Typical BLM trail, poorly maintained. The last mile was mostly over slick rock marked with green paint splotches and an occasion cairn. But with so many people on the trail, it was not hard to follow. One section of particularly angled slick rock had a cable to hold (half of it on the ground due to a broken support) onto so you wouldn’t go sliding. The next section had a cable you had to cling to and drag yourself up a steep section of slickrock with some Moki steps cut into the rock. But the steps have been used so often, they were angled out and a bit slippery. It was fun watching people and their dogs climb or not and come back down that steep section. Lots of dogs in all sizes. The only one with its own back pack was a small silver well-groomed Shih Tzu who walked without a leash and seemed truly fearless on the slanting slickrock. This section of trail turned some people back. But not us! Once up this section, you had to climb up some steep slickrock to a ladder to climb to finally reach a relatively flat section of trail that takes you past Bowtie Arch to the base of Corona Arch. The trail was worth the effort. Corona Arch is quite beautiful. Bowtie Arch right next to it is a classic example of a pothole arch. We sat down in the shadow of the arch and ate some trail mix and drank lots of water. After three days of hiking, our legs were letting us know we had worked them hard. There were lots of people at the base of the arch, lots of noisy kids and some group was actually blasting music. But it was still a fun experience. The trail back was a bit more exciting going down the steep sections. Someone should really teach a class on trail etiquette to some of these young people. By the time we got back to the Behemoth, we were tired of dealing with rude people and uncontrolled kids. We drove further down the river until we came to the entrance to the potash mine before we turned back. On the way back we stop to examine the petroglyphs we had noticed on the way in. They were actually in good shape considering they were right on the edge of the road. Once back to US191, we continued south across the Colorado River and then headed east on Utah279 along the Colorado river for 15 miles. The canyon is spectacular red rock! Then we turned around and headed into Moab for some supplies before going back to the Wanderer. Seven hikes in three days was enough for a weekend!