Bryce to Arches

Since we were at 8,000 feet, the morning started out quite cold. I try to get the coffee started before Lena wakes up. She usually appreciates this. I did this in Vegas by going down the the Starbucks and bringing her a cup while she was still sleeping. She asked me why I didn't get a stirrer. But usually she appreciates it.

The fire was started with some nice dry wood that we brought from Zion. The menu was scrambled eggs, lightly charred whole wheat toast, coffee, hot cocoa, and OJ. Here we are halfway through.

The eggs were scrambled in a disposable frying pan. That is, we'd bought a few frying pans at garage sales for 25 cents each, in an effort to find the perfect small pan. This one failed, because it was difficult to clean. But instead of throw it away we brought it on the trip, used it, then tossed it. One less thing to clean.

We use Egg Beaters type egg substitutes when camping. They taste almost as good as real eggs, but they don't break.

After breakfast we did a quick hike down into the canyon. We wanted to get on our way fast, because it was a Friday, and we figured that campsites would go fast at Arches National Park, our next stop. Little did we know, but they were already all taken by 7:30 AM. It would be nice to call ahead and ask "When do you think the campground will fill up?" However, if you call the Arches number you get "Press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish" and it's all downhill from there. That is, you generally can't get through to a real person.

So, back to our hike, it was cold but heating up fast as we descended into the canyon.

Here we are halfway down. The name for all these sculpture-like structures is "hoodoo." They are formed because the different rock layers erode at different rates. Usually, you have a very resistant layer on the top.

With these photos, the luminance of the shadowed and sunlit areas are so different, that it's hard to get a shot that shows both.

The bottom of the canyon was quite nice, and worth the climb down. We would have enjoyed a longer hike -- maybe next year.

Here's an overview of the canyon, back at the top.
Here's a video taken at the bottom.

Video



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After the hike we went to the lodge where I played the piano to keep my hand in. However, it was horribly out of tune, and the black key for Ab above middle C was missing, so I just played one song and left.

It was at this point in the trip that we looked at our progress on the map, and realized we had better get our happy asses in gear if we were going to arrive in St. Louis on the 13th. We had thought to visit Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and/or Escalante, but instead went right to Arches.

We arrived at the entrance station at around 3 PM, only to be told that the campground had filled up early in the morning. They gave us a list of other campground possibilities. So we worked our way through these very nice campgrounds, each with 3 to 19 campsites, located right on the Colorado River. It wasn't an easy process, since the windy road was narrow, and checking a campground consisted of driving on bumpy dirt roads and looking at the tags on each site. We repeated this process at 7-10 campgrounds, until we were about 30 miles from Arches. Neither of us cracked.

At the Hittle Bottom campground, we decided that if there were no sites, we'd continue on to Colorado. But we got the last site (see pictures below). We were pretty tired at this point, but figured that we'd regret it later if we didn't see Arches National Park, so we decided to drive the 30 miles back to the park, and go through it. Also, the alternative was to sit at the campsite in the direct sun. It wasn't too hot, maybe 80, and it was a dry heat. But still.

So, back to the park it was. The pictures don't do the structures justice, of course. These hoodoos are huge and weird. My favorites are the gigantic, narrow wall-type structures (no pictures, sorry).

This next shot is of a hoodoo called "Balanced Rock." We came at just the right time, 'cause look what happened as Lena bit into her apple!


We would have missed that if the campground hadn't been full, fate is weird, huh?

Here are some of the arches that give the park its name (remember to click on these images -- the bigger versions are better).


The park is in the process of licensing the one on the right to McDonalds.

Next, back to our campsite for a cold beer and setting up. Lena's on tent duty today.


There was an actual cowboy herding cattle while we did this. I'm quite sure that it was not something that they stage just for the tourists.

At first sight, the campsite appeared so barren and exposed. But it was actually just perfect for experiencing the feeling for this big-sky kind of place. Note that there's no water here -- you have to bring your own.

Here is a picture of the picnic table. It was flat before Lena sat on it:

As soon as the sun went behind the cliff, it got even more pleasant.


Here's a video of our awesome 360 degree view:

Video

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We had the second pair of hamburgers for dinner, and they were just as good as last time. We would have to atone tomorrow for our three burger meals in a row. The Eldertang is still missing.

Wait 'til you see the pictures of the setting moon and rising Mars in tomorrow's post. I'm posting this entry from a cafe in Frisco, Colorado. The weather here is changing from snow to partly cloudy, so it's time to wrap things up and move on. See you!