Fall 2010 National Parks Trip

Arches National Park

On Sunday we arrived in Arches National Park in Utah, for a four night stay. The campground is a beautiful 18 mile drive in from the park entrance. The park is located just north of Moab.
The night sky was clear and packed with stars. The lack of light pollution made for some great star gazing.

Skyline Arch is also visible on the other side from the campground.
Since we had arrived early in the afternoon, the Broken Arch trail beckoned. The temperature was low nineties, not bad for people from central Texas.

A side trail on the Broken Arch trail provides this view of Tapestry arch.
Broken Arch from the shady side. The trail goes through the arch.
Broken Arch from the sunny side.
A look back at Tapestry arch after hiking up a hill between a couple of fins.
Delicate arch from the upper viewpoint. This is a nice short hike. You can see lots of people to the left of the arch.
Looking without the zoom gives some perspective on how immense this place is.
A collared lizard warming up at Balanced Rock.
Balanced Rock looks like it could fall at any moment.
Thought we had North Window and South Window but it looks more like North Window and Turret Arch.
Double Arch is very impressive. There is also a hole in the arch in the foreground.
The Parade of Elephants.

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park is too close to not take a day tour.

The Green River is out there somewhere. Candlestick Tower looks like a fortress.
Looking down into the canyon at Grand View Point Overlook, you can see a couple of vehicles on the road in the canyon.
Further to the south is the Needles section.
The canyon views are awesome.