In February 2023, Sean and I returned to Moab, Utah, almost exactly a year after we’d first visited. In 2022, we had gone to the storied outdoor adventure town for a long weekend visit to Arches National Park. We had enjoyed the hotel we’d stayed in—The Radcliffe—so much that, while we were checking out in 2022, I had gone ahead and booked us the same lovely room at The Radcliffe for ten days in 2023. That 2022 trip had focused on diminutive Arches, but the 2023 trip would incorporate its massive companion Parks, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef, completing our visits to the National Parks of Utah.
Our plan was to fly into Salt Lake City on Saturday, February 11, 2023, and then drive across the Wasatch Range onto the Colorado Plateau to Moab. We’d be there until Sunday, February 19, when we would recross the mountains and fly home from Salt Lake City.
Staying in Moab gave us easy access to Arches and Canyonlands. Capitol Reef was farther away, but it would make a nice day trip. Perhaps we’d head there more than one day. And there were other National Park units in the vicinity: Natural Bridges National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, maybe even Bears Ears National Monument.
On the cusp of the trip, we didn’t really have a particular plan for the rhythm of visiting the Parks once we were out there. Ten days and close proximity felt luxurious.
In 2022, the weather had been splendid: sunny with warm days and cold nights. February was still off-season for Moab, so we had had Arches almost to ourselves. As our 2023 trip approached, the weather forecasts indicated that we would have a different experience. Colder. Snowier. But we’d have to wait and see.