San Rafael Swell

We had planned to camp at City of Rocks for Memorial Day but the weather has been crazy lately.  So much rain and snow in May. It was raining and cold in Idaho. So we changed plans and went south.  Goblin Valley area- the San Rafael Swell.  We camped on BLM land so hauling in our own water and a shovel for a toilet.  But there is so much good open space it was perfect for our group.  It snowed like crazy on the way, well I guess it was more hail.  But it was unreal- You couldn't hear anything but the hail and you either went 5 mph or pulled over.  Our first adventure was a slot canyon named Ding and Dang.  We knew there would be water but not as much as there was.  We were glad to run into people who warned us that it was chest deep.  The pictures are all mixed up but thats ok.  We had some boulder we had to get over.  We had water to walk through or stem over.  We had lots of big kids to help carry the littles over the water.  It was a great adventure.

https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/san-rafael-swell/dingdang
Ding and Dang Canyon-

https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/san-rafael-swell/goblins-lair

Goblins Lair

After Ding and Dang we cruised over to Goblin Valley.  Half the group headed out to the back of the valley to find Goblins Lair.  A 90 foot rappel into a cave area.  (the littles played in the Goblins and then headed back to the camp sight) . Once in the cave there were two ways out.  One boring and one fun.  One climbing up over a rock fall opening or the other army crawling through a mud filled tight cave with our phones for lights.  Half the group chose the clean boring way.  I was excited for the spelunking experience.  It was a tight crawl.  A few points I wasn't sure if I could fit but we made it.  

The last adventure we had was exploring Crack Canyon.  3 miles out and back.  6 round trip.  So pretty. Kids playing on rocks and exploring.  We had a lovely simple "church service" out on the trail. 

https://utah.com/hiking/crack-canyon-trail
Crack Canyon

We enjoyed time talking and cooking.  We had wonderful fires every night.  Brit taught us all a dance lesson so the middle school kids could practice for those fun middle school dances.  Magical weekend.  I love camping.  We didnt' make it up to the Wedge- The Little Grand Canyon.  We had been previously. But we had a few climbs we might attempt next time.