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| Window Arches in Arches N. P. |
After exploring the Needles section of Canyonlands National
Park, I headed to Moab. It’s the largest
town in the south-east Utah with just under five thousand people. I headed to Arches National Park to get a
campsite before going out to find food.
However, the campground was full, and I was too tired to go exploring at
the moment, so I started heading back to a campground in a national forest that
I passed on the way up. However, I
looked up at the sky and saw stormy clouds, so I decided to get a hotel room. As soon as I got a room the heavens opened
up. I was very happy all I had to do was
go get my gear out of my car instead of having to set up a tent in the
downpour! I also very much enjoyed
getting to take a shower (showers have become less readily available since I
entered the desert. . .and the combination of long hikes, desert heat, and a
lack of shower facilities can be a little tragic). After regaining a level of cleanliness that
would allow me to be around civilized humans, I went to the Moab Brewery. It’s Moab’s only microbrewery (and I think
may be Utah’s only one as well). Either
way, they make a very delicious beer (probably several, but I can only vouch
for one). The combination of good beer
and a tasty hamburger was heavenly! The
ambiance in the bar was quite enjoyable too. . .it definitely had some
character! The next day, I got some
random errands done and then had yet another huge meal at the Moab Diner. The green chili was excellent! I must say, after wandering around Moab for a
while, it’s quirky, outdoorsy charm had won me over! It’s an unique, earthy, and eccentric little town
. . .all traits I rather love!
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| Balanced Rock in Arches N. P. |
After eating everything that wasn't nailed down in Moab, I
headed back to Arches National Park. The
campground was full again, but I decided to explore for a while until it was
time to ensure that I could procure a piece of land to set my tent up on for
the night. Well, I can see why it’s so
busy! It’s incredible! If Canyonlands is a totally natural and
larger than life sculpture exhibit (as I previous stated), then Arches is the
special section of the museum that you have to pay extra to go see because the
stuff in that section is extra rare and spectacular! While you lose the sense
that you are the the only person that knows about this section of the earth and
are discovering it for the first time (which was one aspect about Canyonlands
that made me love it so much), you gain an opportunity to see rock formations
that are totally and completely astounding!
There are large boulders precariously balanced on another rock formation
and huge archways worn out of the stone!
No words or pictures can do it justice!
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| View of the Colorado River in Dead Horse Point Sate Park |
After exploring a bit of Arches, I headed towards Dead Horse
Point State Park. However, the
campground was full, so I headed to a primitive campground with five sites run
by the Bureau of Land Management that was just down the road. I got my tent set up right before a rather
significant rainstorm started. I rather enjoyed being tucked into my sleeping
bag and listening to the rain on my tent.
After it stopped, I was able to see a rainbow over the mountains
followed by a brilliant sunset! The rain
also brought cooler temperatures, which was pleasant as well!
The next day I headed to Dead Horse Point State Park. They say it’s the Grand Canyon of Utah. I haven’t been to the Grand Canyon (yet. .
.), so I can’t vouch for that claim, but
it did have spectacular views of a quite large and dramatic canyon as
well as the Colorado river.
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| View from Whale Rock in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands |
Next, I headed to
the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. This section of the park is up above the
canyon, so you have a grand view of the rock formations down in the
canyon. One of the first hikes I did was
to Mesa Arch. These arch situations will
never cease to amaze me! Even after you
learn about the science behind them, it just doesn’t make sense that these
arches occurred naturally and have been around for so long! I went for another hike along a canyon wall
with outstanding views the entire way! I
attempted to go on a popular hike to Upheaval Dome, but the parking lot was
full, so I backtracked and hiked on Whale Rock.
It was an wonderful hike on several large, rounded rocks that led to stunning
view of that section of the canyon!
Plus, I was the only person there!
After enjoying a break in the warm Utah sun while losing myself in the breathtaking
beauty of the scenery, I hiked back down and slowly dorve out of the Island in
the Sky district.
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| The Goblins in Goblin Valley State Park |
Then I headed to Goblin Valley State Park. This park was near the shores of an ocean
billions of years ago. That ocean left deposits
in this section of Utah. The deposits
are these strange yet beautiful sandstone sculptures that, thus the name, look
rather like goblins. There are hundreds
of them in the valley! The best part is
that they let you just wander around among them! I got there as the sun started to set, so
they were glowing, which added to the mystical and magical feeling of the
place!
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| The Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon |
The next morning I went to explore Horseshoe Canyon, which
is a little part of Canyonlands National Park near the Maze district. My guidebook said that it was thirty miles
down a maintained dirt road. I’m not
sure how maintained this road is! There
were sand drifts slowly starting to take over the road, places where the road
was totally covered in a thick layer of sand, and sections where the edge of
the road was crumbling away. After an
hour of driving down the road, I made it to the trail head. I was confused when I got there. The guide book said that this was a must see section
of the park, but the park service had posted all these signs saying that it was
a terrible idea to hike there due to flash flooding and quicksand. Luckily there was a ranger there as well as
two other vehicles of people. I went to
ask the ranger if it was okay to hike into the canyon. She told me that she’d be leading the hike
until the halfway point! It was really
great to have a guide to point out some amazing pictographs and petroglyphs
along the way as well as share a little history about the canyon! After our guide left, the family that was
still on the hike (the other group bailed out) let me join their family for the
afternoon. It was really great to have
people to hike with because it was very hard to tell where the trail was. It was also good to be with people because as
it turns out there really was quicksand!
The daughter in the family I was hiking with sunk down to her
shins! After hiking through the canyon
we got to the Great Gallery. It’s an
eighty foot long panel of pictographs and petroglyphs (some of the designs are
both!) that is at least 2,000 years and may be 8,000 years old! Many of the designs are of life-size human
forms! The designs have an amazing
amount of detail! It was certainly worth
the sixty total miles of driving on the dirt road!
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| A closer view of a section of the Great Gallery |
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| Landscape Arch in Arches |
The next day I went back to Arches to explore the second half
of the park. I started my day by hiking
to delicate arch. It was amazing to turn
a corner and be greeted with a magnificent and gigantic arch! Again, it was difficult to believe that this
seemly precarious structure was a naturally occurring phenomenon! My next hike was in the Devil’s Garden. This area of the park really did look like a
rock garden on a gigantic scale! There
were countless breathtaking views along the trail! Landscape arch was the most amazing
arch! It’s unbelievably thin! As I continued hiking, I passed a spot where
one of the arches did collapse several years ago. It made me appreciate the fact that I made it
in the park while the others were still standing!
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| Partition Arch (one of my faves) in Arches |
After hiking in Arches for several hours, I made my way back
to the Moab Brewery. After another
fantastic beer and burger (and getting the chance to share some of my knowledge
of the area with some travelers who that just arrived in the area), I hit the
road.
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| Delicate Arch in Arches |
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