Day 20 - Oct 25 - Moab UT to Price UT with Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in between - WHOA!!!

Today was amazing...again!!

I stayed in Moab UT last night so I would have a chance at getting into Arches National Park before the entrance gate got overwhelmed and vehicles formed a line a mile long!  I got up and moving and arrived at the entrance gate at 7:15am, as dawn was breaking but about 30 minutes (at least) before the sun broke over the mountains to the east of Arches NP!  

My first stop was a no-brainer - The Windows and Twin Arches area.  I got there and waited and waited and waited for the sun to arrive.  BTW, I had to scrape my windshield and window for the first time this year!  The temp when I left for the part was a balmy 31oF.  

But the wait paid off!  BTW I took this pic on my way out the park (thus the sun! :-)

South Windows Arch

North Windows Arch

South Window from the west side

South and North Window Arches from the east side...the only way to see both at once.  It felt like the world was looking at me!

March of the elephants near double arches

Double Arches (my favorite formation of the day!

After hiking around these formations for 2.5-3 miles or so, it was time to move on.  My second stop was also a natural choice - DELICATE ARCH.  This is the arch that is the franchise formation for the park.

I got this shot from the view area...not hiking to it.  Since it was the morning, I was able to get the fully lit side this way...and you can see the people on the ridge who hiked for around an hour one way to get there, but they could see only the shaded side.  Win for scientific thinking + laziness!  Not all of the Mud Dragons like to do every hike!  :-D

On the way to see Delicate Arch, I saw The Devil's Garden (below) and Skyline Arch (second photo down).  

There was one last thing I HAD to see before heading over to Canyonlands National Park, and that's LANDSCAPE ARCH.  It takes about a 1-mile hike (one way) to reach the best viewing point for that arch.  But it was completely worth it.  Besides, 1 mile isn't all that far.  

And this is the backside of The Devil's Garden.  Sweet!

Before leaving Windows and Double Arches, I stopped off at the restroom, and was taken back to see something I hadn't seen for over 40 years.  It's a squatter toilet!  Don't worry, there was still a western style toilet in the restroom as well, but these were all over in Japan.  In fact, about half of my apartments had only these.   

The thing that was notable in there was this plaque giving directions on how to use a restroom.  This placard is painful evidence of lessons the National Park service learned the hard way as more and more people from the orient came to visit American National Parks.  Enough said.  The placard says it all! 

And I was off to Canyonlands NP.  The part of that park that I visited had its entry booth only about 30 miles from the one at Arches NP.

Canyonlands NP is exactly that...a national park that preserves and highlights extensive canyon lands.  Since this is the case, there is no way to access all of the park from one entrance point.  There are, in fact for regions of the park.  I had time to visit only one - The Island in the Sky area.  

Here's a tip...if you are a first timer at a national park, go to the visitor's center and chat with the park ranger(s) that are in there.  Most people beeline directly to the gift shop...which is OK, but I like to talk to the rangers.  I just tell them that (as in this case) it's my first time in the park and I have 3-4 hours, so how should I prioritize my visit?  Then they fill in the blanks and off I go.  There's no shame in asking directions.  Haha.

Before we even left the parking lot, the Dragons and I made our first spotting at Canyonlands!  A raven.  These are the smartest birds in North America, and perhaps beyond!

And I was off to see what else I could spot.  First off, I discovered that arches aren't found only in Arches National Park!  This sweet arch overlooks a sweeping vista of canyons below it, and mountains in the distance. 

Then I moved on to the second of my three planned stops.  This one had a 2-mile (total) hike to a vista point and back again, with views like these.

OK, so the views are pretty breathtaking...but the hike was what was REALLY fun!  If you look carefully at the photo below, you'll see that there are people walking along this rock ledge, which is part of that trail.  And yes, that is a MIGHTY long drop...maybe 1000'.  But I was completely safe...I mean, I stayed away from the edge.  A lot of the hike was like this.  And it was FUN!

Moms and Dads...keep a close eye on those kids!  (Yikes!)

This is a shot taken looking the other direction, and yeah, it gives you an idea of what the drop-off is like!  Cool, and scary!  But more cool than scary!!  By this point, the trail is no longer near the edge at all. 

I then headed for the third major viewing spot, and, sadly, given the time and energy I had left by this point, I was only able to get to the closest viewing point of a meteor impact site, but all you could see was the edge of the crater and you couldn't even tell what it was.  Oh well...it was time to go, and I headed north to the ever popular town of Price UT for the night.  And, by the time I got here, I passed the 4000-mile driving mark on my trip.

It was another AMAZING day in nature!

What's up for tomorrow?  Stay tuned.