Arches

For reasons we can’t quite fathom, neither of us slept particularly well last night. This was perplexing, as we had a nice room in a nice place. All was quiet, there were no issues. Nevertheless, we were up early and nearly the first ones in to breakfast. We got an early start on the day’s drive.

Our route today was not nearly as scenic as previous days. We crossed some of the most desolate, godforsaken land anywhere in the world. Some stretches, going on for miles, had the appearance of a gigantic gravel pit. The few settlements we saw appeared poverty-stricken and run down.

Things improved when we reached Arches National Park just outside of Moab, Utah. The line of vehicles to get into the park was two cars wide by more than a quarter mile long, so it took some time to get inside. Based on so many cars entering at once, we expected the crowds to be terrible. But all of those cars seemed to disappear once through the gate. The park absorbed them.

Although the barren surroundings continued, the rock formations were unique. There are more than 2000 stone arch formations in the national park, more than anywhere else in the world. The average tourist sees, perhaps, a dozen of the biggest and best. Even to see those requires at least a bit of walking.

It was a nice, warm, sunny day in the upper 60’s.We put in about 5 miles for the day. Our favorite arches were probably the Double Arch, Delicate Arch, and Pine Tree Arch.

One thing we learned is that all arches have life spans. They are created by erosion, and eventually erosion causes them to collapse.

We were near collapse, as well. We had planned another moderate 1-mile hike, but elected to leave that one out. Instead, we watched a movie at the Visitor’s Center, and then went into town to have dinner at a craft beer brew pub in town.

More hot tub time and early to bed in hope of better sleep.