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Published: November 9th 2008
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Oct 26, 2008
Arches National Park
The beautiful landscape of Southern Utah has been sculpted by forces of nature that have been working on it for millions of years. The result is quiet a beauty to behold. American Southwest which includes the states of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Nevada has a desert landscape which is unique. It has inspired Hollywood film makers over the years who have used this landscape for many a Western. Photographs of John Wayne and others were adorning the walls of some of the hotels I had stayed in during my 1 week trip of this region. John Wayne had, in fact, stayed in a few of these hotels during filming his movies.
I started my trip from Salt Lake City. Drove south towards Moab along the scenic route 6. I had thought of driving on the scenic route 128 to reach Moab but the light was fading. I did drive a few miles into scenic route 128 and then retraced back to Moab. Stayed at Apache Motel in Moab. John Wayne had stayed here during filming his Westerns! That bit of history aside, it was a regular motel.
Next day, I
started well before sunrise for the Arches National park. Bought an annual pass and I was in before sunrise. Took some photos at Park Avenue. Well Park Avenue is an area where rocks rise on both sides of a trail like skyscrapers in Manhattan.
Most of the trails, arches and rock formations in this park are near the only road that runs through the park. Checked for ranger led Fiery Furnace hike at the visitor center but the hike was already booked. Fiery Furnace hike is supposed to be one of the best hikes in the park and only two ranger led hikes are done in a day taking a group of about 25.
I drove on the park road taking snaps of any rock structure that looked fascinating. In the beginning everything looks fascinating specially if this is your first trip to the region. The red, brown or orange colored rocks with all kinds of shapes seem to have a personality of their own. Arches park is famous for arches but it has all kinds of rock formations. Balanced rocks are fun to watch. They seem to suggest that those rocks have been placed on top of
each other by cranes! Such is the art work of nature in Southern Utah.
I did short hikes in the Windows Section, hiked to Landscape Arch, checked out the Balanced rock, looked at the Fiery Furnace rocks. A few months ago, one of the famous arch collapsed. I forgot to ask about it! It is in the Devil's Garden area and I did do some hiking there. Maybe I saw this collapsed arch but since it would not look anything like an arch, I would have missed it!!
The evening was set aside for hiking to the famous Delicate Arch. The hike itself is about 3 miles roundtrip and there is an elevation gain. The anticipation grew as I reached closer to the arch. The trail became a little narrow with a deep drop on the left and high rock on the right. Finally I arrived at the end of the trail and saw some people waiting for sunset. The arch looked gorgeous. Some people had their cameras mounted on tripods, some were running up and down on the rocks, some where just relaxing and soaking in the sight. As the sun begun to descend on below the
rocky horizon, arch and the surrounding rocks began to take on an orange hue. Quiet a sight. I stayed there till 15 min after sunset. People began to leave and so did I so as to reach the parking lot before dark.
Oct 27, 2008
Canyonlands Nation Park
Next day, I woke up early as I had planned to reach Deadhorse Point state park before sunrise. It was about an hour long drive from Moab. I started when it was still dark. I was the only guy driving to that park!. No other traffic. The road belonged to me! Took some photos using my cheap tripod that I had bought just before starting the trip.
From Deadhorse Point, I left for the Island in the Sky section of the Canyonlands national park. There are a few overlooks here which give an idea about the vast expanse of rocky wilderness that is this park. Green River overlook, GrandView overlook are the two main overlooks here. I also hiked to Upheaval Dome which is supposed to be a site where a meteor could have landed. It is a crater which has colorful salt deposits. This hike took about an hour.
Canyonlands is a desert wilderness area which cannot be explored in a 'touristy' way. Island in the Sky and Needles section (which is in a totally different area) have a few overlooks for the tourists. The real exploration can only be done on a 4WD vehicle or multi-day backpacking and hiking. It was not an option for me as I have done neither so far.
I drove back towards Moab and got tempted to drive on the scenic route 128 which runs parallel to Colorado river. It is a gorgeous drive and should be done if you are visiting the area. I went in a few miles and then turned back as I had to reach Monument Valley area by evening.
I reached Monument Valley around evening. I did not get a good evening photo of it. The sun was behind the valley so the side towards me was dark. The famous MV photograph is taken from somewhere near mile marker 13. I left that task for the next day. There was no time for taking any MV tours. I decided to forgo MV tours though people who have taken it swear by it.
I stayed
in a small town called Mexican Hat. There is actually a rock formation nearby that is supposed to look like a Mexican Hat! Only one restaurant was open. I decided to rely on just snacks for dinner. Being a vegetarian, good food for me becomes a luxury in these small towns! Trail mix, cereal bars, bananas are usually my breakfast and lunch which can be had while driving 😊
Next day, I drove a road called Moki Dugway which climbs sharply in just 3 miles with a 10% grade. It is a gravel road but can be driven on low clearance sedans. Fun drive and good views.
Then I drove towards what is called Muley Point. It overlooks San Huan river goosenecks and event Monument Valley is visible from here. The road was really bumpy giving me some scare for I was driving a rental car. The agreement with the rental car company prohibited me from driving unpaved roads. Again, I was the only one on that dirt road for the entire hour I drove on it!
Afterwards, I drove towards that iconic symbol of the Wild West. Took a few shots of Monument Valley and then
headed straight towards Page, Arizona.
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