Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands

I've been so busy or tired that I haven't been able to update my blog, so I'm going to give one big entry for 2 amazing days.

I arrived from Salt Lake City into Moab later than I thought I would. My original plan had been to go to Canyonlands first, "to get it over with," before spending the next full day in Arches. But by the time I got to Moab, I needed a nap. Driving on Rte. 191 into Moab is a spectacular drive because you drive through the Moab fault with its sharp uplifted red sandstone (see picture), and then -- total disappointment -- construction cranes. It was aesthetically shocking to see all this construction at the entrance to the town of Moab after driving through such beautiful scenery. Moab, clearly, is trying to build itself up a bit. According to my Moon Handbook, it's become really popular among young people because of all the car commercials filmed in the area (that's why?) and because MTV keeps on doing shows there (ah, that makes more sense). So I wasn't sure what to expect. But Moab, even though it's got about 5000 residents, is still a sleepy desert town. It's all tourist retail and funky restaurants. I could tell from the real estate office smack in the center of town, that the townsfolk are hoping that Moab will become Park City or Vail in the desert -- lots of great real estate speculation tied to tourism -- but in this economy, I don't think so. And truly, not much was happening. Perhaps as the summer really gets going, things will ramp up.

Anyway, Moab is perfectly situated to go the Arches National Park; the park is just 10 minutes away. So after taking a nap, I decided to drive to some of the easy sections of that park before dinner, and do Canyonlands later. It was the right choice. Arches is named that because of the limestone arches that have been formed because of the wind erosion. They are spectacular, but the park itself isn't that pretty. Of all the places I've gone so far, it was probably the least impressive. Now, the arches really are impressive, and that's why you go. So I went to two sites that afternoon: Balance Rock and Windows. I took some short strolls, saw some Arches, and it was great. It got me ready for the next day.

Arches is an interesting park to hike in. There are basically only 2 types of hikes: very easy ones that take 30 minutes maximum, or hard ones where you're basically climbing over rocks. I'm in the more moderate category, so I felt like there was less for me to do here than in other parks. I did decide to take the "strenuous" hike to Delicate Arch, but really that was a moderate one. I tried a truly strenuous one to Double-O Arch, but I turned back pretty quickly. I felt like I was mountain climbing, something I really am not into.

Still with all that, there were a lot of arches to see. The hike to Delicate was fantastic. It wasn't that difficult really, although part of it is really just traversing a huge rock up. But my shoes and my poles worked great. The reward was well worth it, a beautiful arch poised on a cliff seemingly for no reason except to be beautiful.

After attempting Double-O, I was pretty much done. It was weird, really. Arches isn't that big, and unless you're going to do some whitewater rafting, horseback riding, or mountain biking, the whole thing takes half a day. I could have done one of those three things, but they're hard to do alone, which is clearly becoming the point of this trip -- hiking into the wilderness for some peace and quiet. So I went back to Moab, ate a Chinese buffet lunch (it's hysterical to me that they have one of these kind of restaurants in Moab), and pondered my options.

What I decided to do was to drive to the one of the more remote sections of Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands is a huge park, made up of 5 districts, only 2 of which are accessible by car. Most people go to Islands in the Sky, which I did the next day, but the Needles District is another place you can go, and since I had the time, I decided to. It was a long drive -- 60 minutes. Along the way, you pass Newspaper Rock State Monument, which is rock filled with petroglyphs carved over about 2000 years by various indigenous peoples. No one knows what they mean, who they were carved by, and why, but it's a great document.

After that, you drive about 15 minutes, and then you see the most spectacular display. I have some pictures, but they don't really do the place justice because of the scope of the place. The canyons have been formed where the Colorado River and bunch of it's tributaries merge before the Colorado goes on to the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is great, don't get me wrong, but this is really amazing because there are so many. Also, because there are a number of rivers that have been carving out canyons, there is more flat area in which towns can exist, so there's some agriculture as well. The Needles district is called that because in the area are mesas in which the wind has dug grooves into the tops making them look like large combs or needles. I drove around Needles taking pictures, and really excited about seeing Islands in the Sky the next day.

The next morning, I woke up early, and went to Islands. Again, the scenery was incredible, and again the pictures don't do it justice. There's an arch in Canyonlands, so I took the short hike to see that -- it's called Mesa Arch. And then I drove to Grandview Point, where you can see most of the park, as well as see where all the rivers converge. From the viewing station, you can take a 1.5 mile hike to a point where you get a 360 degree view. I took that, expecting to see a bunch of people, but Canyonlands, since it's so remote and really more for backpackers, isn't as popular as some of the other parks. When I got to the end, I was the only one there. The view was spectacular, but sitting at that spot, not hearing a single human being, listening to the breeze and the birds, it was so soothing and brought me such peace. It was the perfect end to my Utah adventure. I walked back to my car, and drove out of Canyonlands to Denver to meet Susan thinking that this fantastic week in Utah was one of the best experiences of my life.