MOAB, Utah — Castle Valley sits up the Colorado River from Moab. People from every spot on the globe will recognize the landscape featured in Hollywood blockbusters, music videos, and commercials. If you see someone posed on top of a red rock spire, it's likely here.
I've done a lot in the area, but nothing on horseback, so I called up Hauer Ranch, where a ride takes you along the ridges and arroyos of a land beautiful beyond words. (Hint: watch the story!)
Slow Hand's Second Career
George LaRoe goes by "Slow Hand." He retired as a contractor and left civilization behind to ride horses across the West. Literally. He packed horses from near Canada to near Mexico.
Why "Slow Hand?" The nickname comes from horsemanship advice he gives riders.
"Always tell people to slow their hands down instead of jerking and yanking on the horse," LaRoe said. "Just kind of slow it down."
LaRoe has no debt and two bills: car insurance and a cell phone. He travels with his own horses and finds work wrangling tourists at resorts. He's worked in Colorado, Utah, Montana, and California.
When asked if Moab is home now, LaRoe said no.
"I'll know it when I find it," he said.
If he never finds it?
"I just keep going."
Serena Supplee and Larry the Lizard
Serena Supplee's art has been woven into the fabric of Southeastern Utah. After finishing college in Flagstaff, she moved to Moab, found work as a river guide and looked for every chance to make and display her art.
Her first love is painting...with oils and watercolor, but her mind never stops looking at and listening to the wild spaces around her, and she took the challenge of going big in three dimensions. In other words, add 'sculptor' to her resume.
After successful public installations, including a bighorn sheep outside of Moab City Hall, the Bureau of Land Management commissioned a sculpture for the Colorado River trail. The popular paved pathway allows hikers and bikers to travel into the canyon north from Moab.
Larry the Lizard gestated for two and a half years, going through stages of design and experimentation with materials until the week before Thanksgiving in 2025. He is a giant of his species, the only collared lizard that's bigger than an alligator, big enough to also be a bench and an educational exhibit about the valuable and fragile desert ecosystem.
If it's your introduction to Serena Supplee's art, congratulations! It will warm your heart and inspire you to explore.
She explored a long time in the wilderness she loves before finding recognition.
"I had my first successful show when I was 47," Supplee said. "I thought I was doing really good."
Supplee had long heard most artists didn't find success until the age of 50.
The landscape shaped Supplee's art and life choices.
"It touched my heart. It talks to my heart," she said.
And her art joins the conversation.
"He turned into a friend," Supplee said. "That part I'm gonna miss, but I can visit him anytime I want."
