Jake started a new job this week and had a few days off after the old job ended. We decided to head out of town. We ended up at Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah.
Here's our campsite
Gorgeous sunset
The Double Arch
Day 2 = 10 miles of hiking in the desert. Hardcore for me and I got a bit dehydrated. Whoops.
Landscape Arch is over 60 feet wide and only 6 feet thick at its thinnest point. In 1991, a huge chunk fell off, narrowly missing tourists.
Partition Arch - can you spot me?
The rock just wears away, which creates a lot of honeycombing. Eventually, new arches or fins will form. That's one thing I really liked about the park - it's not like it will all be gone in 100 years. Even if the current famous arches fall (one of them, the Wall Arch, completely collapses overnight five years ago), new ones are forming all the time. Jake wished for his climbing gear.
What a ham.
The Delicate Arch - this is when the wind started to really pick up. I'm standing like that so I don't get blown off the side.
The Delicate Arch through another arch.
Second night had crazy winds (gusting over 30mph). This wouldn't normally be too big a deal, unless you are sleeping in a tent on very fine sand. We both ended up covered in a layer of sand as the night progressed. I maybe slept 4 hours in total. There was sand in my ears and embedded in my hair.
We decided not to try and cook over an open flame and headed into Moab for breakfast. We started discussing the possibility of cutting our trip short from 5 days to 2.5. We headed into Canyonlands National Park and cruised through there, but the wind didn't die down and the weather got colder and rainier. Around noon, we decided to head on back to Denver. Sad, but we still got in 2 great days of camping, hiking, and marveling at nature.
Here's a bonus shot from my cousins wedding the weekend before camping. :)
