Negro Bill's Canyon

I thought this was a rather unusal name for a hike. But learned that it named after the first non-white settler in Moab. Renae and I printed off some information for this hike as I was to be in the Moab area for work and she decided to meet me there to go hiking and camping. Well I don't know about you but trusting information printed off the internet who knows how long ago isn't to be trusted in life and death situations (not that we had any, just a flare of dramatics). First it said the trail head was hard to find, please it is 3 miles from Moab how hard to find can it be, not to mention it is the over flow parking for the mountain bikers. Second the internet information indicates there is the second longest natural bridge here, Morning Glory Bridge, but in a secretive manner you have to follow a hardly noticable side trail, please, really it is the main trail and rather well used and marked considering there were probably 30 people on the trail. And we met JoJo and Parley the dogs along with a few others that didn't give there names. And this is all before we even hit the trail. So in the haste to hit the trail between the couple carrying the toddler and the bus load of angst ridden teens I forgot to put new batteries in the camera so there are not quite as many pictures of Negro Bill's Canyon as what normally would have been taken, but we still got some. This was actually a rather enjoyable hike along and often crossing a unnamed stream. It would seem that this stream flows most of the year so would be a great hike in the summer time and since it is in a canyon wouldn't be unbearable in the heat. Although there is a bit of ridge walking. The only thing the internet print off got right was that the trail crossed the river and is also littered with lots of poison ivy (sorry mom you won't be able to take this hike). The dogs had their packs on which again everyone commented on dogs with packs as if it was such an odd thing like seeing an alien or something. After about an hour and 15 min we reached the natural bridge. Many of the catus were in bloom and brought much color to the canyon hike. On this hike we discovered several things some of which are previously mentioned. But also that Zeus, the ever ready to hike dog, is in personality much like a human man in that he doesn't stop to ask for directions and he thinks he knows the best way (which sometimes he is correct in). I also got to try out my new day pack the Osprey Talon 22, which I absolutely enjoy. I know this isn't much about the hike itself, it is more about the adventure. Overall both Renae and I enjoyed the hike and I know the dogs did. The first picture is of some flowers we saw along the way, the second picture is of Bandit (RJ's dog) standing the lone sentinal, and third is Renae pointing out the bridge. The overall mileage for this hike is just shy of 5 miles RT.