Day 47 - Moab, UT

We knew that today was going to be another hot one. But we didn't get to the entrance of Arches National Park until 8:30am. There were a number of other people around but it wasn't overly crowded. Nothing like Yosemite or Zion. We went to the Double Arch/Windows parking lot and it was pretty full plus a couple of tour buses. It was a short walk to the Double Arch and it was worth seeing the size of the arch up close. Seeing pictures doesn't do it justice.

For scale, here is Bridget under the first arch. I think the last time I was here at the Double Arch it was around 1980 or so. A lifetime for some but it doesn't feel like it was that long ago. I had visited a couple of times when we were doing field work and a couple of times on my own. There were a number of cyclists on the road that had me feeling a little nostalgic.

This is Turret Arch located across the road from Double Arch and next to the North Window and the South Window. In the foreground is a couple walking with tripod, video camera and a large DSLR. They arrived riding 2-up on a KTM adventure bike. That seems like a lot of camera gear to be carrying around on a bike. Of all of the arches we saw today, this was my favorite.

Just a short distance from Turret Arch is the South Window. This one was pretty crowded with a large tour bus group all walking together. I'm not sure if keeping together is required or they just prefer traveling in a pack. And all seemed obsessed with taking selfies with their phones trying to get the Arch in the background.

One last stop before the visitors center was Park Avenue. Named, I believe, for the tall, sky scraper-ish sandstone cliffs lining the short valley. There is a primitive trail through valley ending at another turnout down the hill. "Primitive" translates to "not paved" as are most of the popular trails in the park.

The balancing rock was at the top of the western wall along Park Avenue. Oddly, the camera I was using (Bridget's Canon SX30 IS) flashed face recognized in the viewfinder with three green rectangles. I guess it thought the shapes looked like people.

The first panorama was taken from the Garden of Eden viewpoint. I was never able to figure out the origin of the name. But it was getting pretty warm by this point so I didn't wander around too much. The last panorama was done with the iPhone camera looking up at the arch.

BTW, the wifi here and at the last campground is abysmal. Essentially unusable.