El and Em's First National Parks Adventure: Arches National Park

Tuesday, June 20 was our final day in Moab, UT. The temperature rose to 104 to 110 degrees, depending on location in the park. But that did not deter us - we were determined to see as many arches and features in the park as we could in our single day there. We walked the trails (very little was viewable from the auto-accessible overlooks) for a total of over 5 miles to get a glimpse of these marvels of nature. We were awed. See the photos below for a short tour of this magical place.

On Wednesday, we continue east into Colorado planning to pause in Silt on the Colorado River.

Now that we have left our Moab campgound, I can feel free to say a few things about it. We camped in Canyonlands RV Park on the south end of town. It was very convenient to many services including groceries and restaurants. But, the campground itself was not quite what we had grown used to during this trip. We have stayed in several Good Sam and KOA properties and never have we felt so crowded and jammed in as in Canyonlands. While the park was well-treed with considerable shade (welcomed in the desert heat), the sites were narrow and short. The original site we were assigned was right next to the bathroom. OK - we can deal with that. But the six foot tall steel post installed to protect the bathroom (on the right of the site) and the tree on the left of the site, made it impossible to turn our 30-foot vehicle safely onto the pad. We were going to hit the post. So, we asked for another site and received one, reluctantly after a "we have a situation" call to the manager or owner of the campground. At the end of the road we had to drive down to get re-positioned for the new site was the dump station. If there is a RV at the dump site, other traffic through that area had to wait or risk damaging their rig on one of the large trees or worse on another RV. Our alternate site (and many others) was designated for a 40 to 45 foot RV. The pad was not long enough for all four wheels of our 30-foot vehicle to be on it. 2 were on concrete and 2 were on gravel. The "porch" portion of the pad had huge cracks in it. The "front yard" was just a bit wider than the picnic table. Setting aside the quality of the site, we were dismayed at the continued disregard for campground rules. Vehicles were parked in vacant sites, as well as in the road, making passage by large vehicles difficult. I'm surprised there weren't multiple accidents. All of the roads were two-way. Some sites had multiple vehicles - trailer, ATV and pick up truck. It looked like chaos. At least the bathrooms were clean; but they were a little outdated and small. One evening when we returned from our day of touring, there was a long line of vehicles waiting to get in the park making passage by our rental car impossible. The entrance was only wide enough for one vehicle to pass through - and there was very limited space at the registration office for vehicles to park. No one could get out either. The staff was friendly. Sorry to spend so much time on this - but given this was the highest-priced of our campgrounds so far, it was by far the most disappointing. There simply was not enough room for comfortable maneuvering and parking of large vehicles. Our recommendation is that anyone with a vehicle longer than 26 feet should choose another location.

Before we get to Arches - here are some photos from the campground. The building on the right is the bathroom, note the vehicle parked in the site. Also note the tall post that made a right turn with a long vehicle impossible.

This was our campsite - note the size of the concrete pad and the proximity to other sites. The pedestle for the adjacent site is behind the tree.

Arches National Park: The "Park Avenue"

This formation is named "The Three Gossips". Cute.

This photo shows an overview of the petrified sand dunes. Sand was covered in a concrete-like layer and compressed into rock. Then the concrete layer eroded away, leaving the petrified dunes.

Double arch was spectacular. It was impossible to get photos of these formations without people milling around - but the people provide a size reference. These arches were huge.

The next arch is called "North Window". Around the corner was "South Window".

Near the two windows was "Turret Arch".

This is the famous "Balanced Rock". The large boulder on top is harder than the underlying supporting rock. Unfortunately, the support is eroding away so eventually, Balanced Rock will come crashing down.

The home on "Wolfe Ranch". Established by John Wesley Wolfe in the late 1800's.

Petroglyphs near the Wolfe Ranch.

Delicate arch was reachable only after a 3-mile hike along a rugged trail. Instead, we walked to the upper overlook and viewed it from afar. Again, people in the scene provide a perspective of size.