Day 10
BAM! nothing like hitting Bambi with your car early in the morning. Zach finally got tired of driving and this happens, looks like ill be a passenger for a while. Honestly it's not as bad as all that, the deer was fine, the bumper was only slightly marred and the park rangers didn't see anything. Just another beautiful day in Capitol Reef.
After the excitement of the morning we were more than easy for a quite drive through southern Utah to our next destination. We ended up getting just that, the drive was pleasant and the anticipation of a bookstore was more than enough to smooth over any anxiety about the deer. We arrived in Moab early afternoon, purchased some new books (actually used books mostly) and made our way towards Arches National Park. Which we anticipated being able to wrap up in one afternoon, leaving us plenty of time to explore the much vaster Canyonlands National Park right next door.
Our first hike was a simple 3mi loop up to Mesa arch. Which if you have picture an arch in your head, chances are it is this one. The most photographed, visited and famous arch, Utah even has it on their license plate! At the top we had some trouble with a French family being to friendly with the arch, it took about 15 minutes for Zach to finally get a clear photograph. Even the more friendly French Canadian family was irritated. Why am I learning this language again? I didn't even have the guts to try speaking to them in French. I guess there's always next time, as I'm convinced we are in Alsace, with all the German and French around.
We finished arches with the Devils Garden hike (6.5mi). Which took us past another handful of the most famous arches, and some of the most ferocious juniper trees you'll ever lay eyes on. I don't mean to detract from the arches, holes in rocks are great, but these trees could give you nightmares! Guess that might be why they call it the Devils Garden.
Day 11
Mosquito pancakes for breakfast. We are camping in Dead Horse State Park, half way between Arches and Canyonlands, a beautiful campground with running water, and a nice visitors center. What they neglected to mention were the bugs. Thousands of gnats made breathing hard, and hundreds of Mosquitos made doing much of anything a real pain. They little buggers are relentless 24 hours a day, and they swarm with the gnats so you can't see or feel them land and start feeding until its to late.
Needless to say we made a hasty breakfast and left for Canyonlands National Park. Our first impression of the park was a little overwhelming, what Canyonlands lacked in color, it made up for in size, not quite the depth of the Grand Canyon, but expansive. I'm sure Canyonlands is larger than the Grand. Just like the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands has been carved by the might of the Colorado River, joined by the Green River. The cooperation And joining of these two rivers has created an intricate carved landscape of cliffs and canyons. (honestly, I'm pretty sick of cliffs and canyons, I want trees, water and forest.) But it is beautiful regardless.
Our first, and only hike today was what we thought would be a nice warm up 9.5 mile hike around the rim of "The Upheaval", which is either a crater or a salt dome. This hike turned out to actually be "strenuous", which every hike claims to be. The hike took us all day, we lost and gained 1300ft on either end, passed through an incredible area called "The Breach" and I lost my hat near the end of the trail making me have to backtrack an extra mile to retrieve it. All said and done it was an excellent day, we even got to see two other hikers on the trail, which is a rarity in this park.
Day 12
Today we decided against doing another major hike, and settled on a simple 6.5mi trail that wrapped around an area known as "The Neck". The reason for the name is that the road crosses a narrow land bridge (about 40ft wide) leading out to the Island in the Sky, upon which is located the visitors center. This neck became a high traffic area for miners in the early 70s as the area is rich in uranium deposits. The National Park Service still uses the winding switchback truck road to haul dirt for trail maintenance and preservation.
Our hike was again relatively unhindered by other hikers. We even passed an old water trough for cattle. The hike was short enough that we completed it in record time. This time without losing anything of value. We spent the rest of the afternoon stopping at all of the touristy overlooks and vistas before heading back to base to rest up for another long drive tomorrow.
MILEAGE
Driving:
This trip-233
Total-1565
Walking:
This trip-24.5
Total-104.5 (broke one hundred!)
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