We set out for Arches National Park before 7 AM on Wednesday in order to get one of the limited parking spaces at Devil's Garden trailhead and to get in as much of our hiking as possible while it was still relatively cool. Despite the early start, the trail was already crowded. The first arch we saw was Landscape, the world's longest span at over 300' in length. The 'primitive' trail beyond the arch is said to contain more arches than any other route in the park. However, it was unmarked and people have wandered in all directions creating social trails. We followed one of these for about half an hour until it ended at a steep drop-off. We attempted the loop in the opposite direction but the sand, heat and lack of arches led us to abandon that trail.
Our next objective was Delicate Arch, another extremely popular site. Every space in the lot was occupied but a car backed out right in front of us and we scored a slot. The longest section of the trail was uphill across slickrock and it was now mid-day--in other words, it was very, very hot. And, like Devil's Garden, very crowded. Our effort was rewarded with stunning views of Utah's iconic arch (it's the one on their license plates). We drove to several overlooks and photographed some of Arches' arches, fins columns, spires and turrets.
After a nice dinner and a brief stroll around downtown, we settled in for a bit of TV. The news led off with a report of people stranded by flooding at Delicate Arch--where we'd been only hours before! Evidently, heavy rain had fallen to the north or east and rushed down the wash separating the parking area from the road.
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| Early Morning on Park Avenue, Arches National Park |
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Landscape Arch |
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| Double Arch (note Fred at lower left for scale)  |
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| Delicate Arch |
Most people hear 'Moab' and think 'mountain biking' so we couldn't spend time there without trying the famous and difficult Slickrock Trail. Even at 6:45 AM Thursday morning , we could feel the rock radiating heat. Swooping up and down over rather steeply-sloped rock requires nerve, practice and physical conditioning. Lacking all three, I found even the practice track too demanding.
We returned to the motel, cleaned up, packed up and headed up to Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands and Arches are less than forty miles apart but completely different--Arches is all about stuff jutting out of the earth whereas Canyonlands is all about gaping abysses in the earth. Canyonlands encompasses a vast area divided into three districts because one can't move from one to another within the park's boundaries. Island in the Sky district, the region closest to Moab, looms between the Colorado and Green Rivers, which merge farther south in the park.
Our hike on the Lathrop Trail meandered across the flat, dry, grassy top of the Colorado Plateau to the rim of the Colorado River's gorge. We scrambled downward from ledge to ledge, getting impressive long-range views from a different angle after each descent.
Jan at the Grand View overlook,
Canyonlands National Park
We visited several viewpoints and ate a quick picinic before driving about sixty miles to Green River. We'd stayed at the RV park there on the trip west 'way back in April and thought it seemed like a nice little town. Turns out it's a crappy little town with a nice RV park. But all we needed was a place to sleep, shower and eat; GR provided those at a minimal level.
We decided to make the return trip on SR 24 and 12 instead of I-70 since that route is both more direct and more scenic. Also, we could stop at Little Wild Horse Canyon and Goblin Valley State Park en route. Little Wild Horse is a slot canyon with some extremely narrow passages, places not wide enough to put my foot down flat between the walls. The slot was a lot of fun to explore even though we had to forego entering the final section due to mud and standing water.
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| Fred in Little Wild Horse Canyon |
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| Narrow Passage in Little Wild Horse |
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| Standing water blocks the way through Little Wild Horse Canyon |
Goblin Valley must be one of the most bizarre spots on Earth! At the bottom of a large roughly circular basin, dark reddish-purplish-brown Entrada sandstone has eroded into weird, smooth formations that seem sculptural rather than natural. There are no trails--you just wander where your fancy takes you among these strange shapes. Just try not to exclaim, "Look at that one! It looks like a........." We were entranced for about 20 minutes before the 100* heat drew our attention away from the goblins and toward the Jeep and its air conditioner.
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| Goblin Valley |
The drive back to Tropic was beautiful, hot and uneventful. The last hurrah of our vacation was a stop in Escalante for a late lunch/early dinner. We arrived home about 4:00, worn out from cramming a week's worth of sights and activities into three days.
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| View from Route 12 crossing Boulder Mountain |
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