Arches National Park will Blow Your Mind

Now that we've made it to California (but not San Diego, unfortunately, due to a ridiculous accident on the main highway that slowed us down), I can get you all caught up on our road trip around America.

On Thursday, July 15, we got up, ate, and packed up our vehicle at Annmarie and Jim's place in Black Hawk, CO, and took off for the Arches National Park, which is located just outside Moab, Utah.

If the eastern edge of the Rockies (like Boulder) were incredible, the western half was just as scenic. Along the way, there are tons of small ski towns that are stunning. It reminds you a lot like something you might see in the Alps or The Sound of Music.

Thanks to a tip from Annmarie, we took the scenic route into Moab, which was well worth it. The route had us basically follow the Colorado River to Arches National Park. We made frequent stops on the way to Moab just to take some pictures. The scenery in Utah was, as somebody kept saying, mind blowing! It's truly like you're on a whole other world. It's very hard to believe that this is part of the United States until you actually experience it. And even then, you might not believe it.

Here's a quick photo from one of our stops at a place called Sandy Beach along the Colorado River. It had river access, so we could dip our toes in the river in the 100 degree heat. The photo is of some rafters on the river and was taken just before we headed down to the beach.

By the time we got to the park, Cara had done a pretty good job of scouting out our stops. We were fortunate enough to get a campsite in the park! The campground is located at the very end of the park (about 18 miles in), so we decided that making frequent stops on our drive to the campground was the best way to experience the park. We'd do mini-hikes around the park and save the Delicate Arch hike for the next morning.

Our first stop was a magnificent example of the power (and skill) of Mother Nature as we stopped at the Balanced Rock. Wind and rain erosion made this fascinating monument, and wind and rain erosion will eventually destroy it. We all felt fortunate to see it.

As we continued onward, we pulled over multiple times to just soak in the panoramic views of the park. We spent two days and a night in the park, and I still feel like we barely saw the park. It's enormous!

The second main stop we had was the Double Arch, which we spent about an hour hike to and around the Double Arch. Cara managed to hike up to the one opening relatively easily and quickly (her descent took a little bit more time).

We then drove to the Fiery Furnace before making our way to the Sand Dunes Arch, an imposing arch and sand area toward the end of the main park road. We all had to empty our boots and shoes after the Sand Dunes Arch to get rid of the loose sand in them.

Eventually, we made it to our campsite and dropped off a few items, but we waited to set up camp. We still had about an hour and a half of daylight left, so we used that to head over to the Devil's Garden trailhead, which leads to the Landscape Arch. Almost immediately into our hike to the Landscape Arch, we slowed down to observe some deer just chowing down on some local brush. We'd end up seeing more deer by the end of this hike as well as some rabbits that just blend right into the landscape.

At the end of the trail, you come across the Landscape Arch. A long and skinny arch that looks like it is ready to fall any moment. We learned that in 1991, part of the arch did fall and, due to safety reasons, hikers are no longer allowed to hike up to and under the Landscape Arch. It still made for a great backdrop, even if we were a bit sweaty from hiking.

Seeing the sun set over the park was beautiful sight, but it also meant that we were all getting fairly hungry. We made it back to our campsite, located in the Devil's Garden campground, with just enough sunlight to set up our tents and get dinner going.

We were all fairly exhausted from a long day of walking, mini-hikes, and the heat, so sleep soon called afterward. Seeing the insane amount of stars above our campsite in the Arches National Park was a wonderful way to end a wonderful day.

Our time in the park was not done, however, as we'd do the Delicate Arch hike as early as possible the next morning (temps were set to hit 100 before noon).