Finish: Moab, Utah
Distance: 71 miles Total to date: 2797 miles
Campground: KOA Campground, Moab, Utah; $85 for a cabin. As we wanted to stay an extra day in Moab to explore Arches National Park, we booked a cabin.
Gas: Grand Junction, Colorado 4.244 gal @ $2.899/gal $12.30; Moab, Utah 3.550 gal @ $2.959/gal $10.50
Park Fees: Arches National Park $5.00 for motorcycle
We had a late start because Al T noticed that his rear tire was completely worn. Luckily he noticed it as it was down to the threads and was extremely dangerous. Being a Sunday on a long weekend, we were leary to find someone open to get Al a new tire and change it. Luckily they found Fred at Arrowhead Motorsports and he had the tire replaced within a few hours.
Once they got back, we headed out to Arches National Park which is just 4 miles out of Moab. This was on mine and Al's bucket list for some time, so finally it was a reality.
Arches National Park is a landscape of contrasting colors, land=forms and textures unlike any other in the world. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, in addition to hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins and giant balanced rocks. As soon as you enter the park, you make a sweeping turn up a very steep incline and massive rock cliffs with large balanced rock formations.
As you go further into the park, it's you are awe-struck by the huge red pinnacles. Photos cannot give you the concept of how massive, how high and how straight up the walls of these pinnacles are. There are balanced rock formations everywhere and you wonder how the hell the got there and how the hell are they balanced so well.
The Lasal Mountains are the backdrops of the photos of Arches, with their grey tops from being above the treeline and dark green colour of the forests that blanket the mountains.
The route into the park is about 30 miles long with a lot of little side roads and trails that lead to different pinnacles, arches and formations. Many of the formations have names such as Devils' Garden, Garden of Eden, Windows, Delicate Arch, Courthouse view, Petrified Dunes, Balanced Rock and more.
It gets very hot in the park as today's temperature was in the 90's. I took a 1.5 mile walk up a large bluff area to see the Delicate Arch and really, really needed to bring water, which I didn't. Luckily, when I got to the Devil's Garden, they had a fountain and I made good use of it.
Saw a scorpion along the way to the Delicate arch.
Arches is a very unique setting and it is amazing to see. Photos and words can't provide an adequate replacement for actually seeing it.
This was a great item to have on and off the bucket list!
Tomorrow, we are heading south to Blanding and then west and north to Torrey. We want to get to the Zion National Park area for Tuesday and Wednesday, so tomorrow might be a long riding day.
No comments:
Post a Comment