Moab Sunrise; Arches National Park

Well, I woke up this morning wondering what the scenery would look like from the front window of the bus... at 0645, the sun was lighting this mesa that stands tall above the Colorado River on the southwest side of Moab, Utah.

Our campground is in a nice RV Resort, with all the facilities a family with kids would want (pool, putting green, life size chess and checkers, etc.) but we never use those assets; we get up early to go hiking or biking. Today was no exception; after a big bacon and egg breakfast, we filled water bottles and loaded our daypacks. After a quick stop at the visitor center, then up a couple of big hills, we turned the corner and this view appeared. 

That wasn't even one of the featured areas of interest. Here is another just ho-hum mountain along the road in.

 These "fins" are also just off the main park road. Seen end-on, they are very narrow, maybe only 100-150 feet wide at the base, then tapering at the top to maybe 20-50 feet wide.

  Words cannot come close to describing the majesty of Arches National Park. There are over 2,500 rock arches, towers, and windows here, and the most famous are named. Our first hike would take us to Delicate Arch. The trail is a 2 hour strenuous hike with a 480 ft elevation gain, initially over a trail but then over bare slickrock, with virtually no shade. In August, you do this trail early mornings or late afternoons to avoid the brutal heat. You are also advised to carry two water bottles per person. It is good advice. Here is a shot of the trail looking up.

Carved over the centuries by water and wind, the arches take your breath away. Was the hike worth the effort? You decide... that's us at the base of Delicate Arch... Can you tell we're smiling?

We decided to hike around the back side of this huge bowl, then down into the bowl to get a different perspective of Delicate Arch. The vegetation here is mostly yucca plants and small, gnarled juniper trees.

Here is Suzanne, very happy and inspired, with Delicate Arch in the background... just after this picture was taken, we found eight plastic water bottles that had fallen down from the cliffs above us. We emptied them on the plants in the bowl, and loaded them in our packs for depositing in the recycling bin back at the trailhead. 

We happened to be listening this morning to a news report about the Mars Rover sending images back that looked like the American Southwest. Here's a view from today's hike in the American Southwest that could be very similar to what the Rover is seeing on Mars...

 Our next hike was to Double Arch. This trail was much easier and shorter than the first hike, but Double Arch was just as impressive as was its Delicate cousin. These arches often start as potholes near a cliff face. As the years go by, water eats away the sandstone, cutting an alcove where it runs off the cliff edge. Finally, the depression on top breaks through the rock into the alcove below, forming an arch...

The state of Utah was named after the Ute Indian tribe. They were resident in this area, and left these petroglyphs of bighorn sheep and mounted riders (carved sometime between 1650 and 1850).

As you may know, Suzanne is a talented flutist. After attending the organ recital yesterday, I think she wants to branch out into the keyboard. We can't afford a big pipe organ like the Mormon Tabernacle, but here she is practicing....

You don't think about water and water-based mammals in the desert, but in this little stream we saw what looked like a muskrat. He (she) was too fast for us to get a picture. Mammals are much more rare here than in more temperate areas. Mule deer, foxes, jackrabbits, cottontails, kangaroo rats and chipmunks are more common, and there is even a small herd of bighorn sheep here. This stream is near the old Wolfe homestead, built around 1900. His family didn't join him from Ohio until 1906, but their new cabin had a wooden floor and fine china ordered from the Sears catalog.

Our last stop was at The Windows. These arches are huge; you can see people at the base of the arch on the right. "Cairn" is a Scottish Gaelic word for a stack of stones or rocks. At times, My Lovely Bride displays a bit of a playful streak, as here, where she is holding her foot above a cairn marking the trail.  

Do you remember the musical "The Music Man" and the expression, "Idle hands are the Devil's playground."?  Like in the previous photo, Suzanne shows her little girl side... here she is, pretending to push the top rock on a very delicately balanced cairn. "Hey, Lady, leave that cairn alone!"