Canyonlands and Arches National Parks

This morning we took off early in the morning and first rode over to the Canyonlands National Park.  We turned off of the main highway onto a desolate country road and rode that for 22 miles until we came to the rim of the Orange Cliffs Cararact Canyon.  We stopped at the Needles Overlook and were literally the only people there the entire time.  The overlook offered beautiful views of the entire canyon and we took lots of photos and crawled over the rocks for quite a while.

Looking out over the canyon, you are struck by the variety of colors present.  There are deep reds, yellows, white and shades of green.  Although we were there early, I'm still struck by the fact that we had the entire area to ourselves.

After leaving the canyon, we rode north through Moab and went into the Arches National Park.  We continued about 14 miles to the back of the park where we stopped at the Devil's Garden.  Simply put, during our ride there and a subsequent hike, we were treated to some of the most stunning and dramatic landscape that either one of us had ever seen. 

Because we had planned on riding to several other locations after Arches, we had only planned on taking a short 1.2 mile hike to the first of the arches.  Then in an apparently spontaneous plot to kill me, Glenn suggested that we hike the entire 7.5 miles.  All would be good though because he'd bring the single 1 liter bottle of water that we had.  A plot you say?  Take into consideration a couple of things; we're dressed in our riding clothes including long pants, we're at 7000 feet so walking up even moderate hills leaves you sucking for wind and the trail we'd hike is titled "Primative" and if you have acrophobia then the Park Service strongly recommends that you do not take the hike.  More on that later by the way.

In all seriousness, even though it was hot, it was a tremendously rewarding experience to move that far through the park.  We were into areas that very few people will travel so many times we had the sights to ourselves.  Occasionally we did pass other hikers and they ranged from properly prepared to having no business being out there.  The formations were incredibly impressive and we took in arches, towers, canyons and vibrant colors of all shades. 

Back to the acrophobia and unprepared hikers....in the above photo, you're looking at a descent on a slickstone portion of the trail.  We came from the other direction so we were preparing to climb it while the folks pictured were trying to get down.  The fella in the middle wearing the white shirt was freaking out and wouldn't move from where he was.  First he tried to walk down but couldn't take a single step.  Then he tried to slide down on his butt and couldn't manage it.  Then he had the brilliant idea to slide his backpack down the rock first to lighten the load.  At first it wouldn't go so then he started to kick it.  That worked too well as the pack went tumbling down the rock dumping its contents on the way.  That included his water bottle which broke open spilling his water everywhere.  He finally tried walking again but was literally quaking in his shoes in fear and kept saying "I feel realy uncomfortable".  Even Glenn and I were trying to talk him down but finally his party split and one of his friends walked with him back the way they came.  At long last we had a clear path to get up the rocks and it was really no problem at all.  Below is a photo of a descent that we made at the 6 mile mark.  After coming down it, I would concede that if you have issues with heights, it would definately bother you.

If you look at the middle of the photo, you have to walk from the top down along the widest of the fingers.  Towards the bottom, you can see how the rock is turning black from all the boot scuffs.

Ultimately Glenn's plot failed and in fact may have backfired as he was worn down when we finally made it back to the bikes.

By this time, it was late afternoon and so we rode into Moab for a late lunch/early dinner.  We stopped at Pizza Hut and literally received no service.  We ultimately got up, left and rode across the street to a Mexican restaurant where they treated us like gold.  After that, it was back to the hotel for a welcome dose of air conditioning.

Tomorrow for the first time we turn our bikes east to start the trip home.  We're going to ride through portions of western Colorado including Aspen and take in the views.  We plan on camping at Buena Vista and then keep moving east from there.

Until then!