UTAH - DAY 9 - 9.29.23 (Part 1)
We both woke this morning raring to go after a good night's sleep. We had a busy day planned after all.
We found out that to see Arches National Park one must make a reservation for a specific time to enter the park. One makes these reservations 3 months in advance. One also has the chance to call at 6pm the night before for a reservation if there is room. OR.... one can go any time before 7am or anytime after 4 pm. The park never closes. It's open 24/7.
We decided we would do Canyonlands first then Arches after four.
This is a national park I haven't been to before so Walt and I will get to share this one together as a first time for both of us.
I warned you there would be scenery overload today and I'm not going to disappoint.
The first five pictures were taken before we arrived at the Visitor's Center. Remember, you can click on each picture to enlarge it.
Stopped at the Visitors Center because I had to get the stamp for our National Parks Passport Book. Found one someone else had stamped laying on the desk all ready for me.
I didn't get the name of this place until later in our visit.
Now it was time to do some serious sightseeing. We did notice that in the distance everything seemed hazy and we asked a park ranger why that was. He explained it was smoke from a fire in Colorado.
The colors changed so much from one section to another. Even the sky changes from area to area.
Walt is absolutely loving this trip. It makes my heart so happy to see him look at all of this in awe.
I took this picture simply because it was there and I liked it.
See the white tops on these hoodoos? That is there because they're to protect them from rain. Hoodoos are a soft rock and this harder covering is like an umbrella if you will.
There are no straight roads in this park. It's all S turns and curves.
More photos of some amazing landscape.
This next picture is for our friend Wayne. We know you like to work with rocks in the lapidary room so we thought we'd bring one home for you. Wayne, try as we might, we just couldn't get it in the back of the pick-up.
So this was our day in Canyonlands National Park. I did finally figure out the why they named the Visitors Center Island in the Sky. The section we were in is like an island between two massive canyons and we were so high up,,,,well,,,,it was like an Island in the Sky.
UTAH - DAY 9 - 9/29/23 (Part 2)
After going home to get something to eat we headed back out to go see Arches National Park. We were only about 10 miles from the entrance, so we didn't even leave until 4pm to give time for the 4 o'clock rush to clear out.
First stop was the sign.
The second stop was the visitor's center to get my stamp for the passport book. That done, we were ready to go sightseeing!
More rock!
Around every turn there is a treasure to behold.
I wonder if the locals ever come to the National Parks.
Balancing Rock - simply amazing!
More....
and even more...
Walt and I knew when we came to this park that to see some of the Arches up close and personal that there would be walking,,,uphill,,,involved. With his legs and my back we knew this wasn't going to happen for us. But oh how I wish we could have.
They are all so different. Colors change.
I hope that you enjoyed your trip through Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. If you have been here I hope our trip brought back good memories.
Tomorrow we move.
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