La Sal Mountains

Our next destination was Moab. Since this visit was in the fall, it gave us the opportunity to visit the La Sal Mountains. Our previous visits to Moab were in the spring, and the La Sals provided an intriguing backdrop to many of our views, but were snow-covered, making them inaccessible. The La Sal Loop Rd is a scenic drive of 50-60 miles, twisting and turning through the mountains. We took an additional side trip to hike up Gold Knob. "Gold," I believe refers to the aspens in the fall, which were absolutely brilliant. The hike itself was of a much more familiar nature to us than our desert adventures ... up, then back down. The weather was a variable, and we got hit with a white out, then hail on the upper reaches of the hike (so, no summit view!). But by the time we reached the bottom, it was very pleasant again. The road drops down and then through Castle Valley before heading back along the Colorado river towards Moab ... with stunning scenery the entire way. A great excursion.