Moab

From Durango we headed west into Utah, Stopping for lunch in Monticello, where we were greeted by a blizzard (by this Floridian’s standards, anyway). From Monticello we turned north toward Moab, and were soon in the spectacular canyon country of southeast Utah. We had made arrangements to meet our friends Glen and Judy Denner in Moab. We met the Denners and spent some time with them last September at the Montana Owners Club rally in Indiana, and were looking forward to seeing them again.

Our schedule only permitted two days in Moab, which we knew was barely enough time to even begin to see the attractions here. We decided to scout the area in preparation for a return trip when we would have more time. On the advice of Glen and Judy, we decided to concentrate on the nearby Arches National Park.
Included in the Park’s labyrinth of red-rock canyons, fins, towers and balanced rocks lies the greatest concentration of natural sandstone arches in the world (over 2,000 of them). The park’s signature arch and main attraction is Delicate Arch. You reach the arch by way of a 1.5-mile path, which starts as a series of gravel switchbacks, traverses a large slickrock area, and finishes with a narrow path cut in the side of a cliff. The trail is considered moderately difficult, gaining about 500 feet of elevation, but the scenery and wide-open views make it well worth the effort. With a little huffing and puffing, we made it to the top in about an hour. Here we were greeted by wonderful close-up view of the arch with the red-rock canyons and snow-capped mountains in the background. What a fantastic picture, and a great way to wind up our visit to Moab. We’ll be back.

P.S. Sorry about the large number of pictures (31, I think). Just couldn’t resist

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