Today we did Arches National Park. Well, maybe saying we “did” the park is a little of an over-statement. Let’s say we did some of Arches NP. I do think we hit the highlights, got in a couple of nice hikes, and was once again (of course) struck by the amazing beauty of this country.

The park doesn’t just have arches, it also has some amazing rock formations. In the group above is the Three Gossips, the Sheep, and the Courthouse Towers. Can you figure out which is which (even though they are small!)?

Those are the Petrified Dunes.

This is Balanced Rock. We actually saw lots of examples of balancing rocks, but this one seemed to warrant the name.
And we did see plenty of the beautiful arches -

The Cove Arch

The South Window

The South Window with perspective!

This is the Double Arch.

And this is NOT A TRAIL! There is this ancient,living dirt in the park (and all over the area) called cryptobiotic crust. And we had to be very careful not to step on it. This being a tourist is trickier than you think! Antique Dirt. Hmmmmmm.
But back to the sights -

These are the North AND South Window arches.

And that was the view as we completed our hike to those arches. Such expanse!

The Double Arch

More Expanse!

The hike to the Delicate Arch viewpoint.

And the view of the Delicate Arch – probably the most recognized arch in the park. It’s on many of the Utah license plates, and is the unofficial state symbol. We could have hiked all the way to the arch itself (like all those little people in the picture), but it was over 3 miles and according to the guide, considered “strenuous”. We decided that a good view was just fine with us!

That hike was under mile, but still “moderatly strenuous” – and well worth it!
Our final arch of the day was the Landscape Arch -

and that hike included this view -

This was a lovely park!
And after a full day, we hooked up the truck and headed north.

Isn’t it amazing how quickly the terrain changes out here?

The road dead-ended at those mountains, which is where I70 passes by (E-W). We are actually situated on the top of the mesa to the left, parked in a nice rest stop. Tomorrow we hop onto the interstate for an exit or two west and then head south to Capitol Reef National Park.
The Rock Tour continues!
OH – one more interesting sight from our day at Arches -

This is a German touring bus from a company called Rotel Tours. It’s a rolling hotel – get it, ROlling hoTEL! Here’s a link to their website where they describe the accomodations. Good thing they have lots of pictures, since it’s all in German.

Our Rock Tour continued with a day at Canyonland National Park. And even though the sky wasn’t as bright and blue as I would have liked, and we kept our hats and gloves close at all times, it was a wonderful day. What a beautiful park, with lots to see and do! Hiking, biking, off-road vehicle exploring, tubing, rock climbing, you name it, if it’s an outdoor sport, you can probably find someway to do it here at Canyonland. We only had a day so we opted for a couple of short hikes, driving the park’s scenic roads and finishing the day off with an incredible 4 wheel drive!
Some of the beautiful vistas from our day -





Then there was the Shafer Trail – our 4×4 adventure!


Yep, that’s the road!
I kept telling myself, this road was made for uranium trucks, this road was made for uranium trucks, this road was made for uranium trucks. And then I prayed that no one was coming UP the road.


Ooooo – and the views as we decended into the canyon floor were amazing!



That’s the Colorado River meandering through the canyon.

And that’s the other half of the “meander”.

Everywhere we looked there were more stunning rock formations.
And more beautiful views.



This body of water is part of a potash mine - it was a beautiful blue, quite unlike the red/brown color of the Colorado!

And of course, along with all of the wonderful rocks, I was also busy zoning in on any spot of color I could find. I love spring and all of the wildflowers in bloom!

We were going to try to get to Arches National Park today too, but the dirt road adventure was a bit longer than we expected so we’ve moved Arches to tomorrow. Better get rested up – so many rocks, so little time!

That would be two days for the post of one!
Wednesday -
From our parking spot in Blanding, UT, we were able to check out Natural Bridges National Monument and the Valley of the Gods. Oh, and a couple of adventures in between!
But first, our early morning treat -
The full moon setting in the southwest sky -

It was way early, and I have no idea what made me look out the bedroom window, but I’m certainly glad I did!
But on to the day…..
As is often the case in this journey of ours, the drive getting to the “destination” is filled with interesting and unusual sights.

On Tuesday the rocks that we saw (Monument Valley) were tall and angular. This morning they looked like a mound of dough getting ready to be shaped into a loaf of bread!

Our first stop on Wednesday was Natural Bridges National Monument-
One of the nice things about a “National Monument” as opposed to a “National Park” is (usually anyway) that they are a nice manageable size. Natural Bridges had a lovely scenic drive that took us past the three beautiful examples of natural bridges.

Each bridge had a short hike to the canyon floor, but I only did the last one (which is why the “close-up” shot is actually close up, and not just zoomed in!). It was a pretty hike, and I’m glad I made the trip!

From there we were headed to the Valley of the Gods, a scenic drive through the high desert that is similar to Monument Valley. But to get there we had to go down the Moki Dugway. And before we got there, we had to go by the Muley Point - long dirt road to, well, Muley Point! Just the ticket!
We finally saw some of those “Open Range Cattle” that we keep seeing signs for -

This one stared at us as we drove by -


“Whaddya doin’ on my road?”
We weren’t certain what we would find when we got to the end of the road, but were delighted with the view. It was crazy windy that day so I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but wow – it was quite a sight!


And on the way back –

Can you see our friend waiting to see if we’re really leaving?
OK – the Moki Dugway


So that’s the road – and Muley Point is the mesa just behind the road mesa. (Does that make any sense?)
It was a great drive – not nearly as nerve-racking as some we’ve been on, but lots of fun! And that led us to the Valley of the Gods.

It was very similar to Monument Valley and it was free, so that was another bonus. Here’s a summary of our drive -







They sure know how to “do rocks” around here!
Thursday -
Our destination for today was Moab – gateway to both Canyonland National Park and Arches National Park. As we set out we were pretty sure that the snow was going to stay up in the mountains,

but by the time we hit the next town up the road, we knew we were in for a very interesting day – both weather-wise and also scenery-wise!

As we approached the entrance to the Needles section of the Canyonlands NP, it was at least slowing down.

But as we headed down the 34 mile entrance road (we left Lizzie at the turn off), we weren’t so sure that it wasn’t going to be a long drive for not much view.

But things definitely began to look up as we closed in on the park -

And as the skies began to clear….







See what I mean? And we hadn’t even entered the park yet!



There was hardly any snow once we got to the park lands, but the vistas continued to amaze us!


But as you can see, the blue sky was fast disappearing.


Yep, that’s Gary, heading back to the car to, you know, wait for me.

These are the Needles Formations, which this section of the park is named for. I think it looks like a city skyline. Very cool.

Oh, look! A challenging 4 Wheel drive road. Uh-oh.
Nope, we turned around and headed back. I guess between the fact that it was beginning to snow again and it was a pretty technical road (and gave you that impression right from the start), Gary decided that this wasn’t the day for that kind of adventure. Phew, I said in my heart!
The clouds did continue to roll in,

and by the time we got the truck hooked back up to Lizzie and were back on the road, the snow was back in full force.

Blue sky peaked out before we pulled into Moab

and even though it was cold, it was nice to get set-up without the weather complicating the process.
Tomorrow we head into the Island in the Sky section of Canyonland, and then hopefully over to Arches. We’ll see just how the day goes!
And so the Rock Tour continues!

We’re on the road again, after a delayed departure from Nampa as we waited (and waited) for the return of my computer. Getting on the road at 5PM is not really our idea of a good start, but start we did. We are headed to Southern California – Jordan Outreach Ministries in Coachella, CA. (I understand it was 75 there today. It’s going to be 14 here tonight.)

Since we wanted to stop and see my niece near Salt Lake City, we were heading SE across the lower part of Idaho. I gotta tell you – there is not much to see!


We obviously didn’t get too far (trying to find a place to park in the dark is really not fun), but we were on our way bright and early the next morning. We were hoping to get to Salt Lake City by noon.




We did finally hit some traffic just as we were coming to the The Great Salt Lake -

And this is pretty much all we saw of the lake (as we sat in traffic!)


We did manage to hook up with Bethany just after noon, and she and I took a tour of Salt Lake City (while Gary kicked back, took a nap and did some reading.). She was a great tour guide – and I’ll do a separate post of that! (I promise!).

This morning we were on the road a little after 6AM – hoping to beat some of the Salt Lake City traffic (we were pretty much driving from one side of the city to the other on the interstate). Pretty much all we managed to do is join in all the traffic in the dark. We made it through and eventually left the traffic behind us.

What we didn’t leave behind us was the snow, and although there were stretches without any of the white stuff,

we could tell by the white stuff hanging on the distant mountains, that there was indeed more snow in dem dar mountains.
When we stopped for fuel at around 9AM we learned that the mountain passes (our route) were requiring chains so we figured we better stay put. As the day wore on we kept seeing lots of other RVs and trucks heading south on I15 and we finally decided that we would give it a shot. We had a full tank of diesel and a full tank of propane, so we figured we were set. Oh, and we also talked with someone who had come from that direction and he said the roads weren’t too bad. The sky even seemed to be clearing some, so off we went.

Looks OK so far…..

Alright, so it’s starting to snow pretty good, but the road is still pretty clear.

Hmmmmm…the mountains are beginning to disappear in the snow…….

Oh, man, I AM NOT feeling good about this. Slow down!!!!!!

The lanes are getting pretty narrow, and now everyone is going at a snails pace as we climb to the final (I hope) summit.


It was bumper to bumper all the way to the top (apparently a LOT of folks paid no attention to the winter weather warning!), things lightened up a little as we crawled down that “hill”, and after another couple of hours of off and on again snow, we did finally make it to the Walmart in Cedar City. It’s still snowing lightly, and it really is going to be in the mid-high teens tonight, but we made it over the pass and we are VERY THANKFUL!

Time to get snuggled under that wonderful down comforter.
(as soon as the Phillies win, right?)