G'morning fellow day-hikers!
We're leaving this weekend for a 3-week adventure to some of our favorite places in the Southwest + a couple of new ones. One of the as-yet-unpoked corners is Bears Ears National Monument; will spend 4 nights in tiny Bluff (we've booked a nice little cabin) and explore routes that could include Butler Wash, Valley of the Gods, Goosenecks St Park, Moki Dugway, Natural Bridges NM, etc.
We have the requisite day-hiking reservation permit for Moon House (will pick up at the Monticello ranger's office en route from Moab) and have a list of some other suggested day-hikes such as Procession Panel, Monarch Cave, Lower Butler Wash and Cold Spring Cave ruins, and would be interested if any of you have done any of them and would/would not recommend? Also any others I've left off? Am especially interested in any which are not much longer than 5-6 miles RT so we can string a few together over a day.
Natural Bridges NM:
Have notes on this one but haven't settled on the best way to approach it. Would be interested in routes with biggest visual payout but with minimal stream fording; not wild about a lot of on/off with the shoes. I don't love a lot of plodding about in sand either. Anyway, begin from Sipapu and exit at Kachina Bridge, and drive to Owachomo? Try and do the entire loop from Owachomo Bridge? Almost a 10-miler, and rumored to be pretty challenging and involve more fording than I'd like to take on. Just take the sissy approach and view the bridges via short-walk viewpoints? Advice, anyone?
Moab; 5 nights:
This will be our 4th trip to the area so we've already hiked a lot of it. Will revisit some favorites (Fisher Towers, Chesler Park, maybe Devil's Garden or Tower Arch at Arches, etc.) but we haven't done Mill Creek North Fork. Anyone have insights on that one or any others you particularly enjoyed?
Thanks in advance for any pointers on the above. :O)