These 90+ degree afternoons have really strengthened our resolve to get an early start. We started out the morning back at the Jailhouse Cafe, and were their first customers. It's a great place, and we plan to return again tomorrow. We sat in their covered outdoor dining area this morning, and we're very comfortable - it was already 60.
We're on the road on our bikes by about 7:30, enjoying the cool, refreshing morning air. We're heading for Arches National Park, starting out on the same Canyon Parkway we've begun our ride with for three days straight. After an easy five miles we arrive at the park visitors center, which does us no good - it doesn't open until 9. This is fine - I thought along the park map and brochure I picked up my last time through here. I don't think anything significant has changed since then.
This is the cliff face lining highway 191 just north of Moab, by the start of Potash Road. This is a train from the mine, and I suppose a potash unloader of some sort. A constant stream of trucks drove up the slope, picked up their load, and drove back down again. I didn't see what happened with them after that.
Looking at the subject of an information panel on the initial climb into Arches. The highway roughly traces the line of the Moab Fault, which fractured about six million years ago. Land on the west side of the fault was thrust upward more than 2600 feet above the land on the right. The layer at the top in this photo is the Wingate Formation - the same formation that forms the canyon floor on this side of the highway.
Our visit to the park today is limited by construction work. The primary roads are being upgraded and widened to accommodate modern traffic flows, and currently the northern section of the park is closed. We're just a bit too late - it sounds like the closure period just began yesterday.
No matter - there's plenty to see in the park that we could still get to. We covered all of the park that was open and reachable by paved road: the amazing giant sandstone formations along Park Avenue; the arches in the Windows section; and the world famous Delicate Arch. Biking this route and taking a pair of short hikes completely filled the day anyway, so we probably wouldn't have made it to the Devils Garden section even if it were open.
Arches is a very popular park, receiving about 1.5 million visitors per year. I won't try to describe our impressions of it, but will say something about visiting it by bike. First off, it felt perfectly safe. Even though none of the paved roads has a shoulder, the traffic load was light and courteous enough that we felt fine biking there and of course grateful for the ease with which we could easily stop anywhere we wanted to. Also, the crowds didn't really bother us or detract from our appreciation. There are certainly plenty of people milling around though, particularly at the most popular spots. It's a big area though that absorbs people well; and it's pretty easy to find some solitude because of course not many people get far from their cars or the most basic walks.
And, finally, it looks to me like an awful place to visit by car. There's not enough infrastructure or parking space to accomodate the number of visitors that show up, and the major parking lots are pretty insane. It must be very frustrating to drive out to the Windows section and realize you can't stay because you can't park your vehicle. A bicycle, not surprisingly, is a much better choice.
The La Sal Mountains, from Arches National Park. Looming larger every day.
The downside of biking through one of the most popular parks in the country. This looks pretty terrible, but mostly it was fine - this is just a crazy parking lot scene.
Beginning the hike to Delicate Arch, probably the best known and most photographed arch in the world. It's not quite as peaceful as yesterday's hike to Corona Arch, but how could we be this close and not come here? It's famous for a reason.
It's a three mile round trip to Delicate Arch. Most of the way there is uphill, across slickrock. Not a hard hike (we even saw one couple pushing a baby stroller up the rocks), but fully exposed. It was hot enough today, and I'm sure it could be quite unpleasant on a really hot day.
Spotted near Delicate Arch: a tiger whiptail (ref: W. Shaneyfelt). I was lucky to get a shot of him, because he wasn't still for long. A few seconds later he darted off, alarmed by some approaching hikers. This is a species that drops its tail as a defensive mechanism when alarmed - while the enemy focuses on the writhing, detached tail, the rest of the critter can dash off to safety. I'm glad that didn't happen here - what a traumatizing sight to observe that would be!
On the way back from the hike, a woman on her way up asked us if she should be concerned about the gathering clouds. The sky didn't look menacing to us, so we reassured her to continue on. Back on the road again though, we weren't so sure ourselves.
This looks like a pretty odd photo. I snapped this after dinner, when we stepped out of a restaurant in Moab. This doesn't quite capture it, but it felt like we were near a forest fire, with a dense cloud of dust and ashes. It's just from the cottonwood trees though, blown up by strong, gusty winds.
Here's something I haven't seen before. Some of the shops in Moab have misters spraying from their awnings to cool pedestrians on a hot afternoon - and to intice them to linger in front of their shop windows, I'm sure, like this attractive young lady is doing.
