Arches, Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands

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Arches Nat. Park

After the sunrise in Bryce we headed off for a day long trip to Arches Nat. Park. We stayed in a lovely small town called Moab. From there we were only about 10 mins away from Arches. The next day we drove in and saw the visitors centre. They actually have a type of lizard in the area which produces only females, that’s right no males at all. That is some pretty serious ‘girl power’! Goodness knows how reproduction occurs, that part wasn’t elaborated on! We actually saw a lizard really close up - great excitement! (not the one I just mentioned though). There was also a dinosaur footprint which was fascinating. We drove around the park stopping to view and photograph all the different arches. The set up was the same as the other Nat. Parks that we had been to whereby most of the sites could be seen by road. We then decided to do a short walk in to take a closer look at the two window arches. They really are amazing and huge - see the photo of Nick below. Further down again we did a walk up to the Landscape Arch. This one wasn’t visible from the road but is probably the most spectacular one. It is one of the largest natural arches in the world, about the length of a football field! Unfortunately you can’t go right up to it as they had a partial collapse in 1994, but you can still get a great view. We walked up to this one via the Pine Tree Arch which was also great and provided some shade!! The temperature was in the mid 30oC and I really did over exert myself a bit on this walk and came home a little worse for wear.

Dead Horse Point

Dead Horse Point the next day also provided some amazing scenery and wildlife. They also had some great replicas of American Indian Rock Art in the visitors centre, I am hoping to see some in real life when we head to Arizona. They do have some in around the Moab area but they require quite a hike to get to. The views included the Potash Pools which you will see in the pics below, an amazing shade of blue! The pics will speak for themselves.

Canyonlands

We went to canyonlands that same day (I was giving Nick the day off driving, a rarity!) As well as driving to the best viewing platforms we also did a couple of short walks. These were well laid out with clear markers that still were in keeping with the environment (see the pics below). We saw more lizards and wild rabbit (however these little guys were a little to quick for us to get photographic evidence!). One theory behind the crater seen in the pics below is that it was the result of a meteorite hitting earth although they cannot be sure. In some of the photos it looks like there is snow on the top of the rocks, it isn’t snow (we weren’t up high enough for that) but just the different coloration. For a lot of the walks we were on the edge of a share drop without any fencing (pretty surprising for litigious America!) However, the path was so wide that you felt quite safe even when the wind got up.

Here is a quote I liked from the Canyonlands visitor centre - “The desert is a good school in which to observe the cleverness and infinite variety of techniques of survival under pitiless opposition. Life could not change the sun or water… so it changed itself.” John Steinbeck

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Photos

Nick @ Canyonlands
Don't fall Nick!!!
The Colorado River can be seen in the background.

Arches #2
A delicate balance!

Arches #3
On our way up to Window Arch

Arches #4
Near the end of our hike - phew!

Arches #5
The most impressive Arch - Landscape Arch

Campground Friends
This is Dot and Bill a canadian couple we met at our Moab campground

Dead Horse Point #2
The Potash Pools

Canyonlands #4
Lizard sighting!

Canyonlands #5
It looks like the spikes are snow topped but it is actually the color of the rock

Comments

[Aunty RJ]

Wow!
I didn't realise there were so many National parks to visit! I remember your Mum getting sick and tired of castles and cathedrals in England...do you think you could ever tire of such beautiful landscapes?God certainly has an amazing creative hand in all He designed! It's Father's Day this weekend and we are just booking in times with our Grandads to celebrate them! Papa Adair was amused that a man aged 72 was referred to as an old man in the paper...we told him that makes him ancient!! Have a great week and don't forget to come home! Love and blessings, Aunty

[Cambo]

Looks cool, How come you havent updated the route map for a while?

[Pam]

Love finding another blog posted
Does yr camera take good enough photos to enlarge? Some of the pics in your blogs would look good blown up as artwork. Nature in all it's different forms is always good for the soul but are you missing the greenery yet? We especially enjoy seeing you guys in the photos so keep posing - both of you!