seen them all. Well, Landscape and Delicate Arches are unique and not just another, ah,
hole-in-the-wall. With that being said, the park is beautiful in a rugged-high desert-red dust- everywhere kind of way.
Visitor center plaza
Landscape Arch
Delicate Arch
No one really needs a guided tour, via my blog, of the Arches National Park, the landscape simply yields them without much effort. We spent 5 days touring the area around Moab, UT which has a number of national parks/bureau of land management recreation areas in which one can partake in whatever activity is of interest to you. There is a system of bike trails that parallel the main highways, hiking - both in and out of the parks, rock climbing, para-sailing, off-road jeep/atv areas, fishing and hunting when in season. There is no shortage of things to do or see.
What becomes the challenge outside of driving past the formations of red dirt or following the trail guide to the nearest arch is locating the local art. Whether it is pictographs in a location that supports that history, as this @ Wolfe Ranch and is close to the parking lot for Delicate Arch trail head.
Wolfe Ranch pictographs
So I look for the art that defines the character of the local populace. Whether it is ancient Indian writing, tourist traps (aka - 'rest-stops') or the city sponsored art walks I try to capture it. Here is some of what I found in and around Moab....
Indian writing on Hwy 279 to Potash
Residential Gate decor
Everyone loves a totem pole
Metal Bull sculpture
Bull nuts and bolts
Artist rendition of Elvis' hit
Pizza delivery? out front of the shop
We spent one day Dead Horse State Park - located within the Canyonlands Recreation Area
and while we took the usual bazillion still photos on two cameras this short 38 seconds will give you an idea of the view from most all of the viewpoints in the park. The park is beautiful and there is camping and hiking trails to enjoy.
Hope you enjoy our visit...the slide show on both Arches & Canyonlands provides more photos to fill out the spaces/gaps here.
This post will be
two days scrunched into a single entry. Even after 3 days of touring Bryce
Canyon National Park and the surrounding area I still can not find adequate
adjectives to describe all the beauty we have seen….majestic …says it all and says little.(NOTE:
Viewing through Mozilla Firefox is less than perfect. If you can't see the
current slideshows try another browser.)
Monday, 23 Oct 2011
Monday morning found
us pulling into Fairyland Point to view
Fairyland Canyon.Surprised to discover
that at 10:30am we had the viewpoint entirely to
ourselves, bonus! I'm posting a
short video that I took there and have, as usual, other photos streaming via the
slideshownext to the post. (I'll upload
the photos from each day into separate shows.)
Off to Tropic and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument we go.
There is one just like this going WEST
After leaving the
park we headed east to explore our intended goal of seeing what Kodachrome
Basin State Park (and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in which it resides)
has to offer in the way of camping facilities, only to discover that
there was so much more to this part of UTAH. Finding a visitor center in the
town of Cannonville, we were given a "Route Guide to Scenic Byway 12"
booklet which outlined what we could see going East, once we saw the park we headed back to Byway 12.
Byway 12 covers 124 miles and we were starting at milepost 25 and
would end at milepost 85, and saw 80% of the 'Points of Interest' that the
booklet described, not bad for a long day of driving. That booklet includes the mileposts and what can be found at each one - it was extremely interesting and helpful to have handy...put us on alert for the next attraction. (Additional photos are in
the slideshow on my blog.)
Tuesday, 24 Oct 2011
Our last day in the
park and we found ourselves scrambling to get the balance of the viewpoints,
all 11 of them,checked off before the
forecasted weather change occurred.The park
has only one entrance and the 'end of the road/last viewpoint' is 18 miles
south. The last viewing points are Rainbow & Yovimpa - this shows the easy Bristlecone Loop (1mi) from Rainbow Point.
Again we found ourselves in
virtually empty parking lots, which for us is always a cause for joy,
therefore, able to enjoy the vistas in relativequiet. They do not encourage lingering- few of the view points have "facilities" or picnic tables.
approaching Rainbow Point
Not to worry, there are places along the road to enjoy the scenery and eat a lunch. However, there are a handful of view points that have little if any railing along the rim...(nice!) and very large signs telling parents to watch their children.
Not to worry, it's more for the park lawyers than for the tourists. I saw several parents with children in tow march right pass this without batting an eye. They must have seen the sign another time.
Bryce - I am in awe of your beauty, clean trails and facilities and the ease with which you made this visit one we will remember for a very long time. Thank you.
Now onto Zion tomorrow and maybe some warmer weather, after all it is at a lower elevation. The air has been thin these last few days.
The Chiricahua National Monument …. The name has nothing to do with cows that is for sure. What a stunningly beautiful spot in SE Arizona. So far I haven't seen another spot in this part of the state where the forest meets desert in such an impactful way. It was an "oh my gosh" moment for sure.
View as you approach the park
Having arrived at the park we toured the visitor center and decided to continue our drive up to Massai Point…the only problem with this day was the 30-50mph winds that we encountered and stayed with us through our Echo Canyon Grotto hike. At 6870' it would be a bit on the chilly side - even without the wind, but we were not to be deterred. There was even a bit of snow still hanging onto the edges where the Sun could not reach to melt, which always makes my inner child rejoice - it's about the possibility of a snow-ball fight don't you know. Even in Arizona!
Remains of our snowball fight
We arrived too late in the day to complete the 3.3 mi Echo Canyon Loop Hike, although we did manage to get a good 2 mi (round-trip) in before returning to our car. The park is large and has several hikes of varying lengths, trails that were created by the Conservation Corps, Faraway Ranch is located on the grounds and once again our NPS annual pass gave us free entry again. That pass has paid for itself just in the last 6 months.
On a lighter note, upon leaving the Massai Point parking lot we encountered this sign - which caused us both to laugh out loud. The road is narrow, winding, downhill and there is just too much beautiful scenery to go fast...so instead we looked for the "radar" vehicle. At over 6700' we think this was a test!
Radar posting....really?
This is one park we will be spending more time in as we travel back and forth to SE Arizona in the future. Enjoy the additional photos to the right.
Goal for today: Hike into Palm Canyon - approx. 1/2mi from Ten Ewe Mountain
Out on Hwy 95 at milepost 85 one can turn off the smooth, hard asphalt onto the graded, graveled and slightly rutted road, just wide enough for two cars to pass without touching while driving East toward the KOFA mountain range in the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge (established 1939 to protect the desert Big Horn Sheep - which we are in constant search of finding - to date we are still in search mode) along 7 miles to the parking lot at the trailhead. It is a beautiful day, deceiting as the Sun is out, but the wind is blowing at a good clip making for a chilly but sunny trek.
Palm Canyon lies within them there hills
the Sherpa prepares
Timing is everything - much later and the Palms would have been in the shadows
Looking West from the trail.
A lone palm tree in another crevice.
The trees are also known as California Palms - These palm trees are probably remnants from when this area was wetter and cooler than it is now. Though numbering less than 100, this handful of trees is among the only native palms in Arizona. http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=22570.
We went in around noon time, good thing too - much later and the shadows would have swallowed up the trees into darkness. As it was we caught sight of them just about the time we saw the following sign:
probably the result of too many late afternoon hikers missing the viewing period when the Sun shines directly into the crevices where they reside.
The 1/2 mi loop trail is a well marked-easy hike. There is no rest area or restroom facility...the nearest ones being approximately 22 miles to Quartzsite, and that's from the main highway. Plan accordingly and have a great time. We did.
