Moab is a common destination for active people that I know, but also folks who just to like get outdoors. We have gone on our own or in various sized groups. The last two times we have gone have been large camping groups. I haven’t done true tent camping in a long time. Last time we vented a campervan, and loved it. In fact we loved it so much we thought about having our friend build one for us, but we decided that renting one occasionally made more sense. We tried to rent from Native Campervans again, but unfortunately they were already booked up for the weekend our friends were all going. We checked out a new site Outdoorsy.com, but their vans had low daily mileage and would have been insanely expensive for heading to Moab. A friend of ours had done a trailer before and convinced us to try that out instead. I think I prefer the van, but both are good options. The van allows us to roll and park to be set for camp for the night. The trailer option meant we had to specify drop off and pickup times and meet the people. That said, they set it all up and picked it back up after we even left. You also don’t have to pull anything with you or drive an extra big vehicle. The trailer was bigger too and therefore had a bathroom, but you can get campervans with one too.
On the way out from Denver, we stopped at our favorite place on the way in Glenwood Springs called The Pullman. The food is creative, delicious and varied. They have a wide range of beverage choices too. It has never disappointed us and is right off the highway too. At The Pullman, we decided that we had made it far enough that we could go all the way, but the trailer reservation started the next day so we grabbed a cheap hotel in Grand Junction and drove just a little further for the night. That was nice because after Grand Junction the drive gets kind of boring at night but is quite nice during the daytime. The hotel had breakfast included so after I hit the gym we grabbed a bite and hit the road. We rolled int earlier than expected and were able to get the trailer dropped off earlier too. We benefitted from our friends getting there earlier and during the week which meant we were able to get a very big spot without too much difficulty.
Then we met our friends at a great quesadilla food truck called Quesadilla Mobilla. Great food, but also very large servings! They had already been mountain biking, and our day was just starting so we headed off to go for a hike. Moab is great for groups because it has soooo many different activities that pretty much anyone can find something to do. Our group hiked, biked (both mountain and road are great there), climbed, and off-roaded. Probably did some other stuff too and I just didn’t realize it.
There are tons of hiking options, and honestly in general I had mostly only hiked in the national parks there before. I didn’t want to bother with that this time, so I just searched on the internet some and found some great links. I had to do it somewhat quickly because our campsite had no internet and I didn’t want it to hold us up. We chose Corona Arch. It was a fun little hike with some “climbing” and led to a fantastic view. I was quite pleased with it and even considered going back to it later to catch the sunset through the arch.
After the hike we went back to camp for just a bit before heading over to pick up the RZR we rented. A group of us all rented them and our one friend owns one and knew where all to take us. The rental company suggests trails too. We were able to get them to rent all of them starting 6pm vs the normal 8am-6pm, so we effectively had them for 2.5 days for the price of 2. So much fun! On the first day we did Hell’s Revenge. We didn’t do all the little tricks on the trail, but did most and had a blast. For that evening and the rest of the trip we were really all on our own for food and would meet up around the campfire or in other’s tents and trailers. The next day we did two adventures. In the morning, we went to Fins & Things with two extra passengers in ours. After lunch, we went back out and enjoyed cruising around in the sand swells outside of Moab and hiking through Tusher Tunnel. For the last day of having the RZR, Brian and I planned on hiking first and then heading out on it, but others were going out in the morning do we changed our plan. We went out on Metal Masher which was very technical compared to what we had been doing, but really fun. It offers some great views too, but be careful where you jump from! After Metal Masher some folks headed out back to Denver, while 3 of the RZRs headed back to camp. The RZR is street legal so we were going to drive it to a place to hike, but the day was a roaster and the group decided to go out again. This time we took the toad from our campground to a difficult trail that we realized might be a mistake so we came back through that and headed up to Hurrah Pass. We had a blast zooming around corners, flying through water crossings and much more before returning the RZR and having our last night in camp. Every time I go to Moab, it is a very different adventure and I can never fit in all the activities that I love. 
Until next time! For my absolute favorite photography from the trip check out this site.
