The La Sal Mountains near Moab, Utah…

With the temperatures approaching 100 degrees in Moab we decided it best to head to the mountains. Fortunately 20 miles south of Moab is the La Sal Mountain range where mountains soar out of the red rock canyons up to nearly 13,000 feet. With Moab barely over 4,000 feet in elevation the La Sals offer a temperature break since they have a dozen peaks over 12,000 feet with the highest peak being Mount Peale at 12,721 feet at its summit.

A popular route is the La Sal Mountain Loop Road Scenic Byway which features spectacular scenery from the red rock lowlands below to the spruce fir forested peaks of the La Sal Mountains. We have done bits and pieces of the loop but decided to do the part we haven't explored yet.

So we headed south on US 191 about six miles south of Moab and then drove north on the La Sal Mountain Loop Road. There are several hairpin turns but eventually we entered the Manti-La Sal National Forest. The Pinyon Pines and Juniper trees gave way to the oaks and ultimately to Ponderosa Pine and Aspen. As we approached the top we took a detour on the Glacier Pass Road where the pines and aspen gave way to spruce and fir trees as well as occasional patches of snow.

We also took a side detour on a road to Oowah Lake a very scenic little high mountain lake where we watched a few folks catch a small rainbow trout or two. We took a trail from the Oowah Lake toward Haystack Mountain. About 3/4 of a mile on the trail we were in a beautiful meadow just below tree line and discovered spring once again. The field was covered in wildflowers from Iris’s to Composites with an assortment of colors and textures… very pleasing to the eye…

The route back took us into the town of Moab where we stopped at the local Microbrewery called Moab Brewery. We like this little beer oasis in the desert… We are now in Provo, Utah but I have one Moab blog left to pen….  so today will be a double header as I posted an early one about our Corona Arch Hike and of course this one.