The sky is overcast as we start out from
Green River to
Arches National Park. I would have preferred some blue sky, but when traveling we get what we get in terms of weather.
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| Cloudy day driving |
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| Entrance to Arches |
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Being a Sunday there's a long line of cars waiting to get into the park. Once past the gate, we climb up a steep hill to a plateau with broad vistas of red rock formations.
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| Where are we going? |
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| Ahhh - this is more like it |
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| Pharaoh ? |
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| La Sal Mountains Viewpoint |
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While at the viewpoint, we notice a guy dressed in a motorcycle suit. At first he seems to be muttering to himself, but then we realize he has a
GoPro camera on top of his helmet and he's busy narrating what he's seeing as he walks around. We're beginning to see these cameras just about everywhere. I want a
GoPro to do flyovers of hiking trails and landscapes.
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| GoPro Man |
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| Looking south from viewpoint |
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| Peter & Checkers |
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On our way farther into the park, we pass many interesting formations. The first are the Petrified Dunes according to the sign there:
- "This vast area was once covered by extensive sand dunes. Some 200 million years ago, winds from the northwest carried tons of fine-grained sand into this area, creating an immense desert. Over time, the sand drifts were covered by other layers of sediment, compressed, and cemented by quartz and calcite into Navajo Sandstone. Erosion has since washed away the overlying layers, exposing the 'petrified dunes.'"
Next we turn down toward the Windows Section, where we can see several of the natural arches. Although we see trails leading to different arches, no dogs are allowed, so we have to satisfy ourselves with telescopic lens views. There's so many people on these trails, they look like ants swarming under the arches.
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| Windows arches |
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| Trail to North Window arch |
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| "Ants" under arch |
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The Double Arch is one I'd really like to see up close. Sigh - another time when we come back sans dogs and hopefully with sunnier weather.
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| Trail to Double Arch |
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These sandstone cliffs are pockmarked with crumbling caves marking possible new arches developing in the future. We stop at the Card of Eden overlook. There we see climbers working their way up via a crack in the rock. The trails in this area are supposed to be especially interesting.
The next turnoff takes us to Delicate Arch Viewpoint. On the way we pass the parking lot at Wolf Ranch which is overflowing with vehicles. Later we realize this area is the trail head to Delicate Arch and the trail to the viewpoint does NOT got directly to this Arch. Since I'm itching to take closer photos of the arches, Peter agrees to watch the dogs as I hike the Viewpoint trail.
With the clouds not showing any signs of burning off we make a quick stop at the Salt Valley Overlook and then turn around at the Fiery Furnace View.
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| Salt Valley Overlook |
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| Fiery Furnace View |
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We drive back through the park and then into
Moab for a late lunch. Moab caters to adventure tourists and is full of bikers, hikers, and river runners.
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| Down entrance road |
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| Overlook towards Moab |
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| Downtown Moab |
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Based on their Yelp review, we choose the
Twisted Sistas Cafe. Both the food and service are good. Of course, I have to try the
Polygamy Porter with lunch and then joke with the waitress they should also carry
Five Wives Vodka.
After lunch we head back out of town and cross the bridge over the
Colorado River, just has the clouds part and the colors come alive {sigh}.
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| Colorado River north of Moab |
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