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We left Mesa Verde and crossed back into Utah from Colorado - we were to cross in and out of many States during our travels. We passed mainly arable farms around the town of Monticello and before long arrived at our first Arch.
Wilson Arch is easily visible from Highway 191 so we could not miss it. It is a natural sandstone arch with a span of 91 feet and a height of 46 feet. It was named after Joe Wilson a local pioneer who had a cabin nearby in Dry Valley. This was to be the first of many arches we would see over the next few days - such awesome vistas.
A short while later we arrived in
Moab which was to be our base to visit both
Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We were staying at a Koa Campsite which was ideally situated just outside the town. We had stayed at a number of these ‘chain camping grounds’ and most had good facilities but at a much higher cost than others but you pay for the additional facilities of course. Most of the Koa sites also offered free wifi but this did not always mean
that you would get a good connection … … … We usually prefer to stay in more primitive sites as they are generally closer or inside the parks themselves, which gives us more visiting time but they do not usually have electric hook ups so every few days we have to find a camp ground with electrics so that we can charge our computers and cameras etc. Our van does not require a hook up to charge anything as the fridge has its own battery which usually lasts a couple of days so we can usually choose a RV Site or a Tent Site which gives us a little more flexibilty.
We had been having problems with one of our bank cards which had been ‘compromised’ so we were restricted to using just one debit card and prayed that this kept working! This bank card cost us a lot more in fees every time we used it - we were not only charged by our UK Bank but also by every ATM we used over here, each bank charging what they thought appropriate! After a very long and slightly heated conversation (via Skype) with our bank they
have said that they would sort out any additional transaction charges we incurred - but we are not going to hold our breath on this!
The Koa receptionist said that a Belgium couple were also having problems and that four of their cards had been compromised. It is such a problem travelling with bank cards and once compromised the bank cuts off ‘your funds’ and they say they cannot do anything about apart from sending a new one which is impossible for us travelling around as we do … … …
I was really looking forward to having a
nice shower once we had settled in and after a lovely swim in the very cold pool set off to use the facilities. Whilst showering, my feet became literally ‘stuck to the floor’ and after pulling them free I realised that the shower cubicle I was in was really closed for repair - had not noticed the very ‘small sign’ on the door until it was too late … … My feet and swimsuit were covered in black very sticky glue. Several hours later and some hard scrubbing with a foot file I managed to
get myself unstuck but my one and only swimsuit was a little worse for wear and as for my flip flops - well they had to be thrown into the trash… … …
Arches National Park The next day we set off for
Arches and just as we were travelling along a dual carriageway I noticed that I had left my swimsuit to try and de-glue and dry out over the wing mirror of our van. You can guess what happened next it flew off into the steady stream of traffic … … We stopped and Paul managed to reverse back once the traffic had cleared and I had to run out to grab the suit - needless to say it was now dirty as well as still tacky from the glue. After visiting several shops I could not find a replacement so will have to ‘stick’ with this one until we can find some larger shops … … … I had got this one in M&S and it was just great for travelling.
Located just 5 miles north of Moab it only took us only a little while to get
to
Arches National Park. Once passed the Visitor Centr, a short climb up the mountainside and we were amongst the world's largest concentration of natural sandstone arches. Although over 2,000 arches are located within the park's just over 76 thousand acres, the park also contains an astounding variety of other geological formations. The park lies on top of a underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, colossal sandstone fins, massive balanced rocks, soaring pinnacles and spires and many trails to wander at your leisure around.
A good paved 36 mile scenic drive took us to the major viewpoints within the park and then shorter hikes took us up close to many of the larger arches. Today new arches are being formed and old ones destroyed - gradually change through time, although sometimes the weather plays a more dramatic part and things can change more quickly. For instance in 1991 a rock slab 60 feet long, 11 feet wide and four feet thick fell from the underside of Landscape Arch, leaving behind an even thinner ribbon of rock and one day weather will destroy it completely so we are glad that we were able to see
it before then.
American Indians used this area for thousands of years. The Archic people, and later the Ancestral Puebloan, Fremont and Ute tribes searched the arid desert for food animals, wild plant foods and stone tools and weapons and you can see their stories cast in stone with many pictograph and petroglyp panels throughout the area. A pictograph is usually painted where as a petroglyp is usually carved into the stone itself.
We spent the day travelling along this
scenic road and also hiked some of the longer trails in the park. Our first stop after the entrance to the park was the
Courthouse Towers View with surrounding rocks with names like,
The Organ, Three Gossips and
Sheep Rock (you can guess what this one looked like!). We walked along a track between the mountains, known as Park Avenue to a viewpoint of the
La Sal Mountain Range. It was a relatively short two mile trail travelling along a smooth rock canyon bottom with tall walls and balanced rocks around the sides. The track climbed over boulders and followed a dried up stream for a while before heading up hill. All
along the route we saw lots of wildflowers including many faded
Evening Primroses. These were a lovely pale yellow colour but some species have white, purple, pink, or red flowers. The flowers usually open in the evening and fade before dawn. Originally, evening primrose was used by Native Americans to make poultices and heal wounds. It was also traditionally eaten and used as a leaf vegetable, nowadays evening primrose is mainly used for the production of its oil, which has a range of therapeutic properties.
We stopped at the
Petrified Dunes viewpoint with views out over the dunes in all directions. A little further on we came to
Balanced Rock and you will see from the photograph what this is - yes a balanced rock on top of another one … … …
From here we turned into what is known as the
Windows Section of the park. This was a gentle hike up a gravel loop trail leading to three massive arches,
North and South Windows and Turret Arch, a pleasant walk with plenty of arches to look at all very close together. Nearby there was a short trail to the
Cove of Caves and
Double Arch an easy trail but through some loose sand which is not ideal to walk along - particularly when it is hot.
We took the shorter trail to
Delicate Arch which was a moderately strenuous trek (lots of up hill) but so worth it. Later we stopped at a couple of lookouts with names like
The Salt Valley and
Fiery Furnace.
Sand Dune Arch was a much more strenuous trek as it was through some deep sand sections - how we hate walking through deep sand … … … ankles held out and they are so much better now thank goodness but we were now getting tired … … …
We finally arrived at what is known as
Devils Garden and it is here where the sealed road ends and you can only hike further into the park. We had lunch and then walked to the trailhead stopping at
Tunnel and Pine Tree Arches and then continuing on. It was getting really hot now and there was not much shade but we persevered and arrived at
Landscape Arch which was our favourite one. We could see
Navajo Arch in
the distance but decided it was just too much for another hike so turned around and headed back. There are so many arches in the park you have to know when to call it a day particularly on a very hot day! On the walk back to the campervan we came acrossasmall
Alligator Lizard basking in the sunshine before disappearing into the desert. It really did look like a baby Alligator complete with teeth!
Arches National Park is a wonderful place to visit so much to see and do and it contains the largest concentrate of stone arches in the world. What is an arch you might say - well to qualify as an arch a hole must have an opening of at least three feet in any one direction. Believe it or not there is no requirement for width … … … Arch, Bridge, Window or Hoodoo (more of these in our following Bryce blog) are all descriptive names given to sandstone features and we have come across many of these on our travels around this beautiful area of the USA.
Canyonlands National Park Arches was amazing but a short
distance on was Canyonlands National Park, the largest park in the USA and this also takes your breath away. A colourful landscape eroded into countless deep canyons, mesas and buttes wedged between the
Colorado and Green Rivers, and their respective tributaries. These rivers are the lifeblood of the region offering fantastic views of the real force of nature - from the overlooks you can see the way they have carved themselves into the landscape itself truly spectacular. The park is divided into four districts; the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the Rivers themselves.
We chose to visit the
Island in the Sky which was the easiest to get to from Moab and also showcased the
Colorado and Green Rivers. The Island in the Sky sits atop a massive 1500 foot broad mesa - quite literally an ‘Island in the Sky’ which offered many overlooks with spectacular views along a paved scenic drive across canyon after canyon, they stretched out to the horizon 100 miles in the distance. Canyonlands was so much quieter than Arches its neighbour which was probably a lot to do with its gigantic size but these to parks
close together were so different. From lofty viewpoints you could see more than these 100 miles in any given direction, resulting in panoramic views that encompassed thousands of square miles of canyon country - literally awesome … … …
A 34 mile scenic drive enabled us visitors to tour the entire mesa top relatively easily. After entering the park gates we stopped at
Mesa Arch and after a short trek arrived at this memorable cliff edge arch and indeed it was completely worth the short trek. The scene behind the arch is unique because of the
La Sal Mountains and valleys in the background. Most of the other arches we saw had the desert landscape peering through.
We continued on stopping at
Upheaval Dome and hiked to the first overlook which gave us a nice overall landscape view of the crater itself. Scientist are still in debate to what it really is - is it a meteor crater or a salt dome or something else! It is certainly a very interesting spot and not just for the geological aspects as visually it is quite stunning with steep mountains of
jagged sandstone in the middle of the crater making it look like a huge desert. We hiked out to the second overlook but we had to be careful walking on the giant boulders and at the same time trying to locate the balanced cairns along bare rock faces which directing the way - we did make it in the end and were again rewarded with more stunning views. On the way back we got a little bit lost but found our way in the end and it was indeed a great hike.
From here we had to retrace our route and join the road out to the
Green River Overlook and you could see why it was so named. After several other small overlooks we reached the
Grand Overlook - this is where the Colorado River makes a beautiful horseshoe bend and what a view that was - it reminded us of the
Fish River Canyon in Namibia which is the second largest canyon in the world, only being outdone by the Grand Canyon itself.
Dead Horse Point State Park An additional bonus to both of the
above parks was the
Dead Horse Point State Park - I must admit we had not known about this park before we arrived. Very close indeed to Canyonlands it seemed a shame to miss it so we headed in.
In the 1800s cowboys used
Dead Horse Point to catch wild horses. With very sheer cliffs on all sides and an access only 30 yards across it was the ideal point for a ‘horse trap’. Cowboys herded horses on to the point and then fences them in across the narrow neck which created a ‘natural corral’. According to legend a band of horse left corralled on the waterless point died of thirst within view of the Colorado River 2000 feet below.
Plants and animals have adjusted to this waterless region with very scarce water and extreme temperatures. The most common trees in the park were Juniper and Pinyon Pine the latter’s stunted growth meant that some trees which were only 15 feet tall could be over one hundred years old. As we entered the park through this narrow neck with steep drop offs you could easily see how the land was used to
the advantage of the cowboy and not the poor horse.
The view from
Dead Horse Point is one of the most photographed scenic vistas in the world. Towering 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, the overlook provides a breathtaking panorama of Canyonlands’ sculpted pinnacles and buttes.
We had so enjoyed our visit to both Arches and Canyonlands and indeed the bonus of Dead Horse Point but tomorrow we will be leaving the area and heading further north towards
Denver - see you there.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Incredible images
Love revisiting these fave arches, red rocks and vast vistas with you, especially since you take us to all those lookout points even when it means trudging uphill and through deep sand. Can't wait to see your next adventure in Bryce (and probably Zion, too). Really amazing countryside!