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Arches, arches everywhere
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We rolled into Moab late in the afternoon, looking for a
place to park Karl the RV. After being
turned away at two RV parks, we saw a bunch of RVs down a dirt road. Taking a chance, we rolled Karl over the
washboard gravel, avoiding potholes, and found a relatively flat patch of
sand. Dogs and people in dune buggies
and on mountain bikes were everywhere, but no one paid us any mind. So we stayed, pleased that we avoided the
$80+ fee of an expensive RV park and got to overnight for free.
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| Home, sweet wheeled home |
The next day we headed for Arches National Park, which
boasts the highest concentration of natural arches (200+) in the world. We drove up to Devil’s Campground and hiked
through the trails while the wind whistled and rain threatened. It was cold hiking.
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| Bundled up in Arches National Park |
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| Landscape Arch--the largest one here |
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| Amazing how these get made |
The arches were beautiful, but the park was small and
crowded. We were there on a weekend, and
despite the wind and cold, everyone was out to enjoy what is billed as a
“family park.” Coming as we had from
Tanner Trail and Bryce Canyon, it felt a bit hemmed in. Plus, the campground at Devil’s Garden was
closed for renovations, so we headed out to the Canyonlands area.
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| Overview of Canyonlands West |
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| The sunset was glorious |
We got the last campsite at Horse Thief Campground, just 5
miles from Canyonlands and a cheap BLM-sponsored place full of mountain
bikers. Moab is a prime biking
destination, we discovered, and in the months of April and May, bikers come from
all over to enjoy the extensive trails available.
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| Looking up at one of the mesas |
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| Multicolored canyon walls |
We headed for Canyonlands early to get one of the 12 spots
at Willow Flat Campground, arriving in time to get a prime spot. It was tiny and quiet and absolutely lovely,
with vistas of the Green River just a short walk away.
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| Trying to see the Green River |
Canyonlands National Park came late to the Park system,
designated in 1974 to preserve the maze of canyons that surround the confluence
of the Colorado and Green Rivers. We
toured the overlooks, the most impressive being the Grand Overlook out towards
the confluence, where once my cousins Reid and Bill passed through Cataract
Canyon and lived to tell about it.
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| Almost at the Green River! |
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| Sasha (AKA Atlas) holds up the world |
We found these canyons to be nearly as compelling as the
Grand Canyon, without all the people.
Plus, oh joy! There was a trail
down through Upheaval Canyon to the Green River! At last I would put my feet into a canyon
river after a good hike. Everyone was up
for the 15-mile round-trip hike, provided I make the sandwiches.
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| The rock walls fascinated me...I kept collecting rocks, much to the girls' embarrassment |
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| Taking a break on the 16-mile-long hike |
It was a fairly easy and enjoyable hike down to the river
through dry arroyos and sandy gravels to the river, which turned out to be a
bit of a disappointment. Thick brush and
what looked like poison oak lined the banks for miles. We walked to a spot where we could scramble
down to a boulder and put our feet in to the freezing water. We walked back to a leafy cottonwood to eat
our sandwiches, then headed up the canyon, which seemed much longer than coming
down. But we made it!
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| Trying to find a way to the water |
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| Feet into the Green River!! Finally!! |
We roasted marshmallows and made s’mores after a round of
burgers, tired but content. In the
morning we stopped back at Arches to look at the most famous arch, Delicate
Arch, as featured in the Lego movie.
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| Tia celebrates the Delicate Arch |
Then we headed north, out of the red sandstone desert and up
into the high country: Dinosaur and the
Grand Teton parks were next!
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| Todd loves Sandstone |
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