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| Here
we are at Arches NP! |
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The little
blue spot under the Delicate Arch is Magda |
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A wonderful
sunset in Moab |
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| City:
Moab |
| Lodge:
Motel6 |
| Price:
54$+tax |
Summary |
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-Delicate
Arch sunset |
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-Arches
NP |
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Sunday, 27th July
Delicate Arch
It's 6 p.m. when we leave out motel headed towards Arches
NP. We plan to get to the Delicate
Arch in time for the sunset.
Sometimes destiny is cruel. We spent the entire morning under
a burning sun and now that we need a clear sky all we get is
dark clouds moving fast to our direction. Nevertheless, it doesn't
rain...not yet.
Driving through Arches we can get a glimpse a few of the main
attractions but we'll have time tomorrow to explore them properly.
Now we go straight to the Delicate Arch trail-head.
We get there at about 7 p.m. when the dark clouds are overhead.
A hundred meters after leaving our car it starts to pour. We
get back in our car, hoping that this is just the usual late
afternoon shower. 20 minutes later we are again on the Delicate
Arch trail.
This trail is quite nice even if we're more focused on the clouds
than on the panorama. We finally arrive at the Delicate Arch
twenty minutes before the sunset and there are already a lot
of people waiting there with their tripod ready. The Delicate
Arch is astonishing. It's really huge and even though we'd already
seen some photos of people near it, the impression you get is
completely different. After visiting the arch from close-up,
we go back to the natural amphitheater to find a good place
for some more photographs. Unfortunately it's still cloudy and
any hopes for a nice sunset vanish. A far-away thunderstorm
with lot of lightning suggests us to leave the Delicate Arch
as soon as the sun sets. It doesn't rain but the sunset is spoiled.
It's a pity, but the walk has anyway been nice.
We get back to Moab when it's dark outside and stop on the way
at a Burger King. Then we go straight
to our motel where, eating some fruit, we plan tomorrow's schedule.
Monday, 28th July
Arches NP
We wake up not early. Arches has surely a big advantage: it's
10 minutes by car from Moab and it's not needed to wake up early
to be in the park at a decent hour.
Today we plan to spend all the day inside the park.
Arches is characterized by a number of short trails leading to
the all its arches. During the morning we visit the Balanced
Rock (it's not an arch!), the North
and South Windows (two arches that look like windows
on the sky), the Turret Arch (with a
natural turret at the arch's side) and the Double
Arch (name says all).
We decide to eat lunch in Moab where we also stop to rest during
the hottest hours of the day.
At about 4 p.m. we're again inside Arches NP. Yesterday we didn't
have time to see the petroglyph at the
Wolf Ranch, near the Delicate Arch trail-head.
So, we start our tour right there.
In the afternoon we hike to the other arches like the Skyline
Arch, the Broken Arch
(what was the its name before it broke?!?) and the Sand
Dune Arch, the one we liked the most. The arch itself
is not the most spectacular but it's located among a natural dunes
oasis hidden by high rocks. The atmosphere in this little paradise
is magic and we remain there long.
When we get back to our car it's almost 7 p.m. and we have time
just for a last hike. Park Avenue is
our choice. This hike passes right below a series of tall rocks
that remind Park Avenue's skyscrapers. We're really impressed
by this place and we walk along speechless, looking at these "unnatural"
natural rocks.
We liked Arches a lot. The general impression is pretty strange:
probably none of Arches' attractions would be in a top-5 best
things seen during the trip, but the whole park is surely one
of our favorites.
Today we walked quite a bit and we're pretty hungry. Moab is famous
for its steak houses and we decide to try the Sunset
Grill. Huge steaks aside, this restaurant also offers
a wonderful sunset view. And while the sun goes down, also a delicious
steak goes down right in our stomach. 40$ well spent.
We're pretty tired and we decide to go back to our motel. Tomorrow
we leave Utah and we're headed to Arizona, "The Grand Canyon
State".
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