Day 10 - Moab, UT

 

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Weather:  Partly cloudy, with big poofy, pretty clouds. Windy in afternoon with more clouds. High of 82.

Steps: Shaun - 12,795, Shannon - 11,232

We got a late start on Sunday morning and didn’t reach Arches National Park until 11:30. By the time we arrived, there was a LONG line to enter the park. We made it through eventually and went to the visitors center (I know, shocker). We watched a movie about the park and how the arches are formed that had good information, but the effect was kind of offset by the overly dramatic music that went with it.

We liked the auto tour at Capitol Reef so much that we decided to do one at Arches too. This one was narrated for us and took us around to lots of arches and beautiful vistas, while explaining the natural processes and history of the park.

We visited Balanced Rock, which is pretty much just what it sounds like, though the rock is more attached to the spire than balanced. We just looked at it from below rather than hiking up to it, and then we went on our way.

We did hike to Double Arch, though we didn’t go all the way inside the space formed by the two connected arches. There were plenty of people already there to give it scale in our pictures, and it was incredible enough from afar.

Across the parking lot from Double Arch are the North and South Windows and Turret Arch. We hiked about two miles around to each of these. When viewed from certain points, the North and South Windows look like glasses, and they are often called “The Spectacles.” Turret Arch probably takes its name from the spires around it that look like towers on a castle wall.

We ate a small lunch in our car in the Windows Section parking lot and then traveled on to Sand Dune Arch. As the name suggests, the arch was tucked into a canyon that was deep with sand, making the short hike up to it a touch difficult but still worth it. Also from the trail we could see Broken Arch, though only from strategic points.

Finally, we took the short hike to the Delicate Arch viewpoint because it was too late in the day to actually hike the 2.9 miles to the base of the arch.

We drove the entire length of the road and back, but we didn’t make it back to the visitors center in time to return the auto narration that night. Oh well, we can return it tomorrow.

We went back to the apartment to get cleaned up and then drove to the Desert Bistro for our Mother’s Day dinner. The food was pretty good and the setting was beautiful, as we were on the patio surrounded by pretty plants, but our waiter was kind of snooty.

From the restaurant, we drove down Kane Creek Drive and viewed three petroglyph sites, including the famous Birthing Scene on a large boulder next to the road. The boulder has rock art on all four sides from peoples over a range of time periods, and it’s really quite amazing. By this time it was getting dark, so we saw this art with our cell phone flashlights and the last grouping on our way back to the apartment with the headlights of our car. Still, it was cool to go scouting for these treasures.

We drove back to the apartment and got ready for our early day to come.