Sunday, September 09, 2007
Moab -- Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Be sure to click on the photos for larger views.
This installment covers Tuesday (September 4) through Sunday (September 9).
Tuesday we drove from Santa Fe to Moab, Utah, where our WIT caravan will start on Thursday afternoon. In the late afternoon, we had a social hour with about 9 couples who have already arrived for the caravan. On Wednesday, we ran errands and relaxed with another evening social hour.
On Thursday morning we took the car to town for souvenir and gift shopping. Mid-afternoon we had our caravan kick-off meeting, preceded by some light snacks. In the evening we had our first group dinner, then took the “Canyonlands by Night” boat tour up the Colorado River – no photos allowed. On the first part of the tour, our guide pointed out a lot of features of the high river cliffs. On the second part, we saw a sound and light show that told the geologic and cultural history of the area. It was a moonless night, and when the light show lights were out, we had an unencumbered view of the heavens – including several satellites – through a clear desert sky.
On Friday, we had an all-day bus tour that took us through Arches National Park, the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. These three parks encompass a variety of types of rock formations and offer a lot of scenic views. The views in Canyonlands were marred by smoke from forest fires in other western states. Our guide not only talked about geology, flora and fauna, but also pointed out sites where a large number of Hollywood movies have been made.
A view in Arches NP.
Carol and Rick at Double Arch
Newspaper Rock
Carol and Rick at Green River Overlook in Canyonlands
On Saturday morning we had a two-hour jet boat tour down the Colorado river. Along the way we saw colorful cliffs, 4-wheel drive vehicles climbing a road that’s rated 4 out of 5 for 4x4s, and the local potash plant. After returning to the dock, we got into air conditioned 4-wheel drive vehicles for a two-hour trip up an easy 4-wheel drive road to Gemini Bridges, located on Bureau of Land Management land adjacent to Dead Horse Point State Park. In the afternoon, Carol and I drove about 15 miles along the Colorado River then into Castle Creek where we viewed Castle Rock, a rock tower that has been the site of a number of automobile commercials. We returned to buy wine at the Castle Creek Winery and to tour their basement museum which recalls many of the movies that have been filmed at least in part in Grand County.
View of Colorado River Canyon from Jet Boat
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Castle Rock
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After a short stop in the RV, we departed about 6:00 p.m. for Arches National Park. We drove the to far end of the park and spent 1-1/4 hours hiking the 1.6 mile plus round-trip trail to Landscape Arch (the thinnest arch in the park – 6 feet thick at its narrowest point) with side trips to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. With the sun setting, we got were able to capture some different colors in our photos. It began to cool off by the early evening, with a nice cool breeze in some of the low, damper spots on the trail. Tunnel Arch lies at the end of a narrow canyon – when we arrived some ravens were flying through the narrow part of the canyon and the sound of their wings was echoed off both sides, making a loud, eerie sound.
Landscape Arch
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Carol at Pine Tree Arch
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On Sunday morning we took the CRV into Canyonlands National Park. After a brief stop at the visitor center we stopped at the overlook for the 4-wheel drive road down into the canyon. (If you enlarge the first photo below, you can see a car on the road about half way down into the canyon.) We then visited Mesa Arch – when looking through the arch you can see both a distant mesa and the closer Washerwoman Arch. There is still smoke in the air, so we never got any good Canyonlands photos – but we do have some excellent ones from earlier visits in 1991 and 2002. This evening we will have a chuck wagon dinner and western show with our caravan group.
View of Car Climbing Road Out of Canyon
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View Underneath Mesa Arch
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This installment covers Tuesday (September 4) through Sunday (September 9).
Tuesday we drove from Santa Fe to Moab, Utah, where our WIT caravan will start on Thursday afternoon. In the late afternoon, we had a social hour with about 9 couples who have already arrived for the caravan. On Wednesday, we ran errands and relaxed with another evening social hour.
On Thursday morning we took the car to town for souvenir and gift shopping. Mid-afternoon we had our caravan kick-off meeting, preceded by some light snacks. In the evening we had our first group dinner, then took the “Canyonlands by Night” boat tour up the Colorado River – no photos allowed. On the first part of the tour, our guide pointed out a lot of features of the high river cliffs. On the second part, we saw a sound and light show that told the geologic and cultural history of the area. It was a moonless night, and when the light show lights were out, we had an unencumbered view of the heavens – including several satellites – through a clear desert sky.
On Friday, we had an all-day bus tour that took us through Arches National Park, the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. These three parks encompass a variety of types of rock formations and offer a lot of scenic views. The views in Canyonlands were marred by smoke from forest fires in other western states. Our guide not only talked about geology, flora and fauna, but also pointed out sites where a large number of Hollywood movies have been made.
A view in Arches NP.
Carol and Rick at Double Arch
Newspaper Rock
Carol and Rick at Green River Overlook in Canyonlands
On Saturday morning we had a two-hour jet boat tour down the Colorado river. Along the way we saw colorful cliffs, 4-wheel drive vehicles climbing a road that’s rated 4 out of 5 for 4x4s, and the local potash plant. After returning to the dock, we got into air conditioned 4-wheel drive vehicles for a two-hour trip up an easy 4-wheel drive road to Gemini Bridges, located on Bureau of Land Management land adjacent to Dead Horse Point State Park. In the afternoon, Carol and I drove about 15 miles along the Colorado River then into Castle Creek where we viewed Castle Rock, a rock tower that has been the site of a number of automobile commercials. We returned to buy wine at the Castle Creek Winery and to tour their basement museum which recalls many of the movies that have been filmed at least in part in Grand County.
View of Colorado River Canyon from Jet Boat
.jpg)
Castle Rock
.jpg)
After a short stop in the RV, we departed about 6:00 p.m. for Arches National Park. We drove the to far end of the park and spent 1-1/4 hours hiking the 1.6 mile plus round-trip trail to Landscape Arch (the thinnest arch in the park – 6 feet thick at its narrowest point) with side trips to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. With the sun setting, we got were able to capture some different colors in our photos. It began to cool off by the early evening, with a nice cool breeze in some of the low, damper spots on the trail. Tunnel Arch lies at the end of a narrow canyon – when we arrived some ravens were flying through the narrow part of the canyon and the sound of their wings was echoed off both sides, making a loud, eerie sound.
Landscape Arch
.jpg)
Carol at Pine Tree Arch
.jpg)
On Sunday morning we took the CRV into Canyonlands National Park. After a brief stop at the visitor center we stopped at the overlook for the 4-wheel drive road down into the canyon. (If you enlarge the first photo below, you can see a car on the road about half way down into the canyon.) We then visited Mesa Arch – when looking through the arch you can see both a distant mesa and the closer Washerwoman Arch. There is still smoke in the air, so we never got any good Canyonlands photos – but we do have some excellent ones from earlier visits in 1991 and 2002. This evening we will have a chuck wagon dinner and western show with our caravan group.
View of Car Climbing Road Out of Canyon
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View Underneath Mesa Arch
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