It was definitely cooler this morning at 13.5 but the sun is there to welcome us when we wake up. We are enjoying this very much.
Before leaving for the day, we exchanged trail info with our Danish neighbours. They are visiting the Southwest for 5 weeks flying in and out of Vegas where they rented a motorhome. Those Europeans certainly love to travel. We have also met some very nice people from Kansas, Mississippi, and from Quebec, which is quite fun. Campers are very friendly people...We have also seen quite a few Roadtreks.
We were off this morning to explore the Arches National Park. From the Visitor Center, we started on the route. Many of the arches are visible from Viewpoints and with a short walk you can really get close. Ross and I found that we can feel our last couple of days of hiking and today we are taking it easy, trail wise.
This park lies atop of an underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins and eroded monoliths of this mecca for sightseers.
One of our first stops was at the Double Arch (photo) which was very impressive. Can you see me? Ross is photographed in front of the Salt Valley with the snowcapped La Sal Mountains in the background.
It got quite hot today with 25 + so we were glad that our walks were relatively short. Our longest at 1 miles was to see the Tunnel Arch and the Pine Tree Arch (you could walk thru this one which was pretty special).
On our way out of the Park, after having spent 6 hours driving and exploring, we stopped at the last viewpoint called Park Avenue (see photo) and there we wished we could walk the mile required to do the trail one way (it seems they pick you up at the other end and drive you back). Unfortunately, our energy just wasn't there but we did start it and made the most of what we saw.
Then it was time to head back, do some food shopping, have our beer & salsa & chips and finally dinner which we had outside on the picnic table. Our first time. The weather makes all the difference.
Tomorrow we leave Moab to discover new horizons ... We have enjoyed Moab very much and leave with so many images both in our camera and in our memories.
We continue to be stunned by your photos and the beauty that you are seeing firsthand. I chuckled when you mentioned the 18 inch opening you had to crawl through...I guess not everyone can get through that part of the trail.
ReplyDeleteMissed your call on Sunday evening. I had left my computer on in the hotel room and could not figure out where the sound was coming from until the next morning. Too bad we missed you.
Enjoy and stay safe. xox