The Drive to Arches National Park and Moab

Rocky Mountain National Park (Park #1), our first reward after 15 hours of driving. None of us had ever been here before. Nice mountains with great views. And it has one of the highest altitude roads in the US. Its a beautiful Park. But not our goal of southern Utah.




We took the Old Fall River Road up to the alpine region of the park. We were above 12,000 feet. There was still plenty of snow as you can see.




We saw a bunch of Elk. The Drive through Rocky Mountains National Park was a nice appetizer for the wonders formed by erosion that lay ahead.




The first long stop was in Moab, UT. Its a great southwest town with a nice feel. There are lots of interesting sights to see. Moab is located right next to Arches National Park (Park #2). Arches is definitely one of my favorites!




This is Landscape Arch. It was once believed to have the largest natural span in the world, 290 feet. There may be a bigger one in China. Its only 6 feet thick at the obvious thin point. It is feared to be among the most fragile arches in the park. A big chunk came off it in 1991.




Walking up to the North Window. Its a short walk in the Windows section of Arches National Park to see a few big arches.




Bart and Alex in the North WIndow. Its a monster.




Here are the North and South Windows in the alpine glow. I thought the red color here was extraordinary. Red alpine glow illuminating the red rock of a fin of sandstone that forms this pair of arches.




We had spectacular sunsets every night.




We took the hike up to Delicate Arch. It is quite spectacular and the symbol of the park (and on the Utah license plate). Its a 1.5 mile hike up slickrock. The trail is marked by cairns (little piles of rocks). The last stretch is quite dramatic with a long ledge. DIane, Bart, and Alex are near the top. In another 100 yards it opens up to a great view of the Delicate Arch. A classic short day hike.



Walking up to the arch is very cool. You really get a feel for how big it is. Looking up from under the arch makes me dizzy. Not a good place to lose your ballance.




Delicate Arch is one of the most spectacular structures in the park. Its listed as a strenuous hike, and it is, But getting to interact with this landmark is well worth the effort.




Here is a nice image of Balanced Rock.




We took the morning ranger led tour of the Firey Furnace area of Arches. Its a maze of sandstone fins. You can only enter as part of an organized tour or after you pass a test showing you can navigate the maze of trails. In some areas you have to work your way through cracks and ledges. The kids had a blast.




This is spectacle arch, one of a number of interesting arches that could be seen along the trail.




There were a number of challenging stretches of the trail as you can see.




It was quite a maze to work through. We had to duck walk with one foot on each side of a crack through this section.




We really enjoyed the the ranger led hike in the Firey Furnace of Arches National Park. Don't miss it.




We did river rafting on the Colorado River through Westwater Canyon. Its on the eastern edge of Utah, just north of Moab. The family had a blast!