Arches and Canyonlands

The B at the B&B was great – pancakes filled with cream cheese blended with strawberry juice and topped with strawberries. Between that and a chatty owner, I didn’t get an early start, but that’s part of the charm of staying in B&Bs.


And then it was on to Arches National Park! This is a great National Park – five stars! I drove a lot of it, stopping at several overlooks. The arches form when softer rock erodes more quickly than harder rock – and for whatever reason, there are a lot of them here! And other interesting formations. I took a hike to Delicate Arch, the symbol of the park and indeed of the National Park system. It was about an hour up and half an hour down (plus time spent at the top); slightly slippery where the sun hadn’t hit yet, but other than that, the weather was crisp but not too cold. I did a short hike by the Windows, and then decided I should see some of Canyonlands National Park as well.




Canyonlands has a totally different feel, so I’m glad I went to see it (not to mention getting another passport stamp…). This one has dramatic canyon vistas. From road level, one can look down at mesas and then see canyons where the rivers eroded everything even deeper. I drove to several places and looked at the vast distances, but there weren’t any hikes to be had. So I decided I had a feel for it and I went back to Arches, where the formations were right in front of you and you could hike closer to or even through them.



I went back to the Windows section for a hike to the Double Arch, and then I drove to the farthest point of the park. At this point it was getting a little dark, so no more hikes, but I covered quite a bit in less than a day. Put 150 miles on the car, too!