National Parks Road Trip 2022, Day 12: Utah's Canyonlands NP ADVENTURE

Bright and early Tuesday, our NAVTEC Expedition 4x4 guides picked us up at our RV park for our morning adventure!

Our family got in with Charlotte, who was incredibly knowledgeable about the area and experienced with off-road tours of all kinds! Mom, Dad, Jamie and Drew rode with Bob and followed us as we made our way toward Canyonlands National Park.

On the trail, we experienced the famous Gooseneck overlook of the Colorado River and traveled a portion of the White Rim Road to Musselman Arch. We finished the tour by climbing the switchbacks of the Shafer Trail to the top of the Island in the Sky.

After this stop, Charlotte couldn't get the key to work in the ignition. She said something about it being a copy of a key, but we spent at least ten minutes worrying that our tour would be cut short. Thankfully, Drew suggested spraying aerosol sunscreen on the key to lube it, and it worked! Drew to the rescue!

Musselman Arch

Audrey snuck in some shut-eye on the way back to Moab where we would load up for the second half of our day, the rafting adventure!

We got to the dropoff point and the rafting guides starting making lunch for everyone. Then they casually divided the groups, but that was kind of a mess because they wanted to split our family but we said no way. We ended up crowding onto a raft with Tiana. She was great but had some interesting hygiene habits.

I took these photos with my phone in a waterproof pouch, so the quality isn't wonderful...

Jamie was very concerned about the potential of falling out of the raft or maybe dying on this rafting trip, but her fears were unfounded. They were Class I rapids... which really don't deserve to be called "rapids." It was basically a float trip down a beautiful river. We were invited to get in the water, which I did, but I didn't stay long as the water was so icy cold that it took my breath away. Getting back into the raft is pretty challenging, too! Basically, Chris just had to haul me in by my life jacket.

Apparently I owe Noah a "real" rafting experience.

When we disembarked, Audrey took her time building sand castles on the river's edge. This was probably the highlight of her day!