Crystal Geyser/Goblin Valley State Park

A little late posting this, but better late than never…What an adventure our Memorial Day weekend was! Our state park excursion continues! Sunday morning we woke up to find that we had chosen a beautiful little campsite near Crystal Geyser. We had pulled in so late the night before, we couldn’t see what a great spot it was until the morning. It was already pretty hot when I woke up around 8. My little sleeping beauty was still asleep in the tent. I got up and started to get everything out to make breakfast so we could eat shortly after he woke up. I thought I was doing a good job staying quiet. As I began to organize myself to get breakfast cooking, I looked up at the open tent door and my cute hubinator was awake smiling at me. I found a semi-flat rock and drug all of the breakfast supplies over near the tent so we could use it as a cooking surface.

We were in a pretty low profile area. We had seen a few campers the night before when we were looking for a spot to set up camp, but I hadn’t seen anyone since I had gotten up in the morning. As we were cooking breakfast, a man and woman approached us. They asked us how long we had been there and if we had seen any movement from the geyser.  They told us they were from Germany. They were both very sweet and friendly.

After some discussion, we learned that they had been traveling around the US and Canada for the last few years in their adventure mobile! The adventure mobile was awesome! The tires were HUGE and looked like they could drive through anything! Looked like a dream come true. We would love to travel around the world in a bus or our own adventure mobile some day.

While cooking breakfast, the German couple got excited and informed us that there was some movement int he geyser. There was a single bleacher for seating. This was a BIG deal geyser if you can’t tell. 😉 We stood by and watched as the geyser bubbled and boiled, but we after about 10 minutes of anticipating the eruption, we left somewhat disappointed. We packed up and drove to the only nearby church in Green River to attend Sacrament meeting. Our car was looking pretty awesome when we pulled into the parking lot… definitely looked like we had been having some fun :}

We hadn’t found a place to shower on Saturday and we forgot to pack clothes for church, so we put on the cleanest clothes we had and headed into the building. I am sure we looked and smelled lovely. But as we walked in a man noticed us and motioned towards two seats in the row he and his family were sitting in. Hopefully he didn’t regret that kind gesture after we sat down in all our camp smellin’ glory. :} They were very kind and made us feel welcome.

After the meeting we hurried out to the car, changed, and drove around trying to find Little Dragon Canyon. The dirt roads were not too well-traveled so it was like a little kids roller coaster! Too fun! Luckily we didn’t get stuck or run out of gas. :} We never found Little Dragon Canyon but we did find a cool canyon that was filled with greenery. There were no other people in the canyon. We had it all to ourselves. We blazed our own path and had the scrapes and pit stains to prove it.

Our next stop was Goblin Valley. Doesn’t that name sound rad?? GOBLIN VALLEY…sounds like a place for adventures to be had! It was about a 45 minute drive from Green River. When we pulled in I was surprised at how many people there were in the parking lot and out exploring the goblins, because of how hot it was. We arrived around 3 in the afternoon and it was scorching hot. Really hot and dry. Rob told me that years ago on a family trip, Dad Spangenberg had forgotten his shoes in Goblin Valley. Sadly we didn’t see them there. The goblins probably gobbled them up, because that’s what goblins eat for lunch, shoes!

We had so much fun exploring this desert play ground. Rob had been there before, but I was stunned to see the beauty of God’s handiwork in this rugged and remote part of Utah. The rock sculptures were amazing. Each goblin uniquely sculpted by the elements over time. No two sculptures exactly alike. Made me think of people and how each of us are are shaped and changed by experiences throughout a life time.  No two people exactly alike.

As we ran around and climbed on top of the goblins in the valley, dark clouds started to roll in. The wind picked up as we reached the butte. The wind was a nice cool relief from the suns hot rays. Thunder cracked and rain began to fall. The rain felt so good. We ran through the rain to the pavilion at the edge of the parking lot. I love rain. I love storms too. Storms are especially cool in the middle of in the desert. It was a gorgeous day to be in Goblin Valley. We will definitely come back someday.