I'm still trying to decide what I'm doing for my solo hiking trip this year. As February comes to a close, my chances of making it to Moab during the Spring season start to diminish; I still don't have a date, or even a serious plan, so how likely is it really that I'll actually be putting boots to ground in a month or even two or heck—even three? And three is already starting to lean into weather that's likely to be too hot, honestly. If I'm really serious about going, I need to nail down a schedule in April... or put it off until the fall. I can always go in October or even early November, I suppose. Although then I start to step on other commitments; Alex will be eligible to go on his mission starting late September when he turns 18, so October or early November is probably when he's leaving.
And I'm reconsidering some of what I'd planned. I do still want to do Chesler Park and camp there, maybe two nights, for a relaxed, packless exploration of the region. But I'm now starting to become increasingly convinced that the Salt Creek area should be the subject of it's own trip that focuses just on that area, and is done as a point to point with some kind of shuttle, or two cars, or something. So, I should just ditch that (for now) and look for some other stuff to do in the Moab area after doing a Chessler Park backpacking trip for... I dunno, three days and two nights or so.
Luckily, there are a lot of potential day trips or short in and out one-nighters in the area that look really good too. There's a six mile loop trail at Dead Horse State Park that few people take (because they just hang out at the drive-up lookout point and then leave, mostly) which is highly recommended: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/east-west-rim-trails-loop
There's always more to see at Arches, although avoiding crowds can be a challenge in its own right: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/klondike-bluffs-trail-tower-arch-hike
https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/devils-garden-primitive-trail
And there's a few other spots in Canyonlands worth taking a look: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/horseshoe-canyon-hike
And, of course, there's plenty of BLM land that I'm curious to see more of: https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/hidden-valley/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/fisher-towers/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/negro-bill/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/hunter-canyon/
And this link has some of the same options listed above, but a few other ones as well: https://www.explore-mag.com/10-of-the-Best-Hiking-Trails-Near-Moab-Utah
Of course, if I do a lot of day hiking like that, I need to figure out where I'm actually staying at night; a campground somewhere? A hotel?
Either way, if anything is going to come of this, I need to get on it pretty darn fast. Now that my wife is home from her girlfriends cruise, it's time to pivot to my solo vacation (which is actually solo, unlike hers) and figure out what I'm doing. Maybe I'll even piggyback off of their trip out west to see conference and do a few other things during Spring Break in April. It'll be a little odd, because I've had the fact that I can't go with them on my mind from the get-go, due to vacation schedules, and my own requirement that I get my solo backpacking trip that I missed in 2018—so going with them to go backpacking will be weird. But maybe for the best after all.
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