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| Drive to Colorado National Monument |
Monday, August 16
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| Colorado National Monument |
There were some thunderstorms in the distance while I was cooking up some breakfast sausages in the morning so I decided I'd avoid any long hikes unless the weather cleared up. The park had a number of short trails (around a half mile), so as I drove from the campsite toward the park exit I stopped at some of those which provided closer looks at some of the rock structures. By the time I finished the drive through the park the sky had cleared up a bit, so I decided to put on the ole hiking boots and do a moderate 1.5 mile hike round trip through the Devil's Kitchen trail. Not sure if the weather scared people off or this just isn't that popular of a park, but I didn't see anyone else on the trail. It was actually a pretty easy hike, which ended up in a natural "room" created by a bunch of rock pillars.
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| The famous Delicate Arch |
I went to the Ale House, which is a brewpub from the Breckenridge Brewery, in Grand Junction for lunch. Got there just in time because it started pouring out as soon as I got inside. After lunch I drove to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. The campground was about a 30 minute drive from the entrance so I got to see a good sample of the interesting scenery, with weird bright red rock formations all over the park. I had heard some really great things about this park, so I was really looking forward to exploring it. The highest reviewed hike was to make a trip at sunset to Delicate Arch, which is basically the symbol of Utah and one of the more famous rock structures in the world. I was thinking this idea might be ruined because it seemed like it might start raining again. I set up my camp, and despite some heavy winds was able to get the tent set up a lot quicker this time. Then I headed to the Delicate Arch parking lot, hoping for the best.
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| Hiking at dusk, with a moon in the sky |
In that short time, the sky cleared up a bit, and I went on with the 3 mile hike which was listed as strenuous. The walk there was pretty rough, with a ton of uphill walking. Fortunately since it was later in the day the heat wasn't as bad as it could have been, but temperatures were probably still close to 90. One interesting thing about the hike is that you can't see the arch until the last minute, after walking around a narrow ledge, so it hits you all at once. This is definitely the most popular hike in the park, and the site around the arch reminded me of a DC monument because of how many people were crowded around it, trying to take pictures of their family in front of it. I ended up getting there well before sunset, so I hung around for awhile taking pictures from pretty much every angle to pass the time. At some point I started talking to a couple who had both graduated from Maryland and were currently living in Los Angeles. Small world. I agreed to take their picture under the arch, if they took mine. The walk back was pretty cool because it was dusk, and the moon was out so there was some cool lighting going on, but it wasn't too dark where it wasn't safe to walk back.
Miles traveled today: 199
Miles traveled total: 3,521
States traveled through: 12
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