We finished seeing Arches in the morning, drove on to Canyonlands around 11 AM. The single best site at Arches was Landscape Arch….
Landscape Arch
A thin ribbon of sandstone, the trail no longer goes under it. In 1991 it did. Visitors were sitting under it when they heard cracks and loud snaps followed by falling rocks. They scurried out from under it just before 180 tons of rock from under the arch fell. It made a sound like thunder that could be heard miles away. The trail has been rerouted around the arch although the park service is considering reopening the old trail since the arch appears stable. After this we went to Sand Dune arch and then Park Avenue, then off to Canyonlands. There was a long line of cars to get into Arches, the park sure to be closed due to too many cars very soon. No new birds today.
We got to Arches early, about 8:15 AM. There is basically one road, head into the park on it and at the end of the road turn around and head out. Three or four short side roads exist. One of these is to the campground. We had planned to ‘boondocks’ tonight on BLM ground but a short drive into the campground led us to 3 open sites. Found the host and got one for the night. This despite a campground full sign and a no sites available message on recreation.gov. We’re two for two this way. Maybe our luck will hold at Canyonlands tomorrow.
Arches is high desert, similar to the other parks but the geologic layers differ somewhat so that arches or natural bridges are more likely to be formed. When softer sandstone below erodes it leaves the harder sandstone above.
Windows, there were several of these. They are eroded holes in “fans”. Fans are the harder sandstone left after the surrounding soft stone erodes away. The windows are places where softer sandstone had insinuated itself Double arch, probably our favorite.
There were multiple variations on that theme. We had a brief spell of warmth adequate to sit outside and read or relax without bundling up. Around 4 PM it began to get cold again.
Here is our campsite. You can see we used the blocks Will gave me for Christmas to level the camper van. (people keep asking us about it, Peggy has started saying “just look it up on the ModVan website)
We took about 5 short hikes, the longest about a mile. After seeing how things work I’m sure they closed the park yesterday when the number of cars exceeded the number of parking spots at the various attractions. At double arch for example, there are roughly 75 spaces to park. We got one of the few available, and it was still only 10 AM. By noon it was hard to find a parking spot at any of them.
Tomorrow we plan to go to Canyonlands NP tomorrow and maybe snag another open spot in the “full” campground. If our luck doesn’t hold out we’ll boondocks somewhere. Day after we’ll head for Mesa Verde.
No new birds today. Actually almost no birds at all, this place is almost devoid of wildlife. Turns out water is necessary for life. I literally saw three species today, white crowned sparrows (6 of them), Ravens (numerous), and Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay (2), and one rabbit.
This state park was other-worldly. Pictures are in order….
The first person of European heritage to see them called this Mushroom Valley, but the Native Americans had called it Valley of the Goblins in there language, so that’s what the place eventually came to be called. Apparently this area was once a sand dune covered shore of a vast inland sea. The sand dunes were compressed into soft sandstone. As wind and water, very little water note the almost complete lack of vegetation, eroded the soft sandstone, hardened areas within the dunes remained to create these weird structures.
On the drive out of Capitol Reef I noticed a flock of small dark birds, pulled over and got a good look at about 40 Black Rosy-Finches. This is the best life bird of the trip. Look it up, gorgeous little bird. There may have been the other Rosy Finch, Gray-crowned, mixed in but I couldn’t be sure, so won’t count that species.
We got to Arches around 1:30 PM and it was closed due to overcrowding. I don’t think this had anything to do with covid, at least not directly. I think there are just so many people here. Last night in Capitol Reef it got down into the 20’s, 40’s during the day yesterday, yet all the campsite were occupied, people were outside, kids playing and riding bikes.
Not only was Arches closed, every campground is full, as is every RV park. We did find one with a single “less than optimal site” according to the owner. We looked at it and decided this was our hotel night. Moab is a touristy western town close to both parks. It was a stop on the old Sante Fe trail when this was part of Mexico. We found a hotel (The Virginian) that takes pets there, and a decent restaurant (Gloria’s Cafe). The hotel is next to a river walk. After eating we took a walk on it only to find a dog park. Sammy is nuts about dog parks. He teases the other dogs into chasing him, and he runs constantly. If he realizes he’s no longer being chased, he makes full speed running passes at other dogs. If that doesn’t work he gets in their face and dares them to catch him.
We hope to get into Arches tomorrow AM, and maybe even see Canyonlands, its so close. We may boondock tomorrow. Then, if we feel like we’ve seen enough of Canyonlands, on to Mesa Verde.
Always be skeptical of a Campground Full sign. We left Ruby’s Best Western RV park Sunday without a definite spot to stay the night. We had a spot reserved in Capitol Reef NP for Monday through recreation.gov but they were supposedly full Sunday. We went to the campground host and asked, found out they had 3 open sites? One of them was the same spot we had for Monday (tonight). Same story tomorrow, leaving for Canyonlands NP without a place to camp, let’s hope they will have a few open spots.
Capitol Reef is roughly 5X the size of Bryce Canyon. Rugged cliffs, sparse vegetation and cold, it got down into the 20’s last night. The park only opened March 1 but there are lots of people here. We went to the waterfold today, a 100 mile shear cliff that is the reef in the park’s name. The early pioneers likened it to a barrier reef as it prevented them from traveling, like a reef blocks a ship. There are several narrow gorges where the rare rain storm washes through the cliff. Pioneers and the Indians before them used these washes to travel through. The park gets 10 inches of precipitation a year, but the occasional summer thunderstorm is dangerous. There is no soil here, just rock and sand so the water doesn’t soak in at all, just runs off, when it hits the waterfold, the cliff, it flows until it reaches one of these gaps. The water level can get several feet high in minutes.
In case you’re wondering. The Capitol part of the park’s name comes from the resemblance of the park’s major mountain peak to the US capitol dome.
We also hiked the Freemont river trail and the Hickman arch trail.
Eating right now at a triple D, and roadfood.com place, Curry Pizza Palace in Bicknell Utah, using their internet. The pizzas are naan bread with indian toppings. We had half chicken masala and half butter chicken. I couldn’t tell the two halves apart, Peggy, who is a super taster could. Both were good. Wish us luck, 3 inches of snow tonight, and tomorrow we move on to Canyonlands, then Arches, then Mesa Verde, if all goes as planned.
One of many orchards around the Fruita CG at Capitol Reef NP. Apple, cherry, plum and apricot orchards are here. Fruit is available to park visitors on a you pick it basis in the summer. We hiked into one of the gaps in the waterfold. It was a foot path due to large boulders until pioneers spent 4 years clearing them in the 1990’s so that wagons could pass.
On a very cold windy day we drove through Bryce Canyon stopping at all the turnouts and taking short walks. Busy but not congested like Zion NP was, this park the drive is on the rim of the canyon while Zion is on the canyon floor. The views at Bryce are spectacular and the geology very interesting. Off white limestone, or dolomite, is on top, followed by several layers of red rock, then shale then sandstone. Most of the images won’t upload, connection is poor, may try again later.
The Three Monkeys Hoodoo. The one on the left has his hands over his eyes, etc.
We plan to go to Capitol Reef NP tomorrow, Arches Tuesday and Canyonland Wednesday and/or Thursday. Mesa Verde in Colorado is probably next. All of the drives if done in that order are less than 3 hours.
Traveling and walking our dog has led me to encounter dog ‘breeds’ that I wasn’t aware of. This morning there was a springer doodle. Of course we all know of Cockapoo’s, golden doodles, labradoodles, golden labs. Obvious what those are. But how about a chiweenie or a ausadoodle. Ironic that most of those are recognized more readily by the public than our English Setter. It’s rare that someone knows what breed Sammy is. Just heard today that Labs are still number one in terms of numbers, but number two is now the French Bulldog. Really?
Just a note so I’ll remember next time we come, if there is a next time. This RV park is basically a flat, asphalt and gravel lot nearly full of RV’s, in St. George. The temple is not a mountain or interesting rock formation, it’s a Mormon temple. The showers were excellent, there is a pool, a game room with fusball and ping pong, an exercise room and a billiards room. The office staff were extremely nice and helpful.
Went to Zion National Park today. Man is it touristy and congested. There was only a short line to get in but once in there was NO parking. People were driving around stalking pedestrians in hopes they were leaving and freeing up a space. In fairness to the park there was a sign just before the entrance “All Parking Lots Full”. The park is beautiful and consists of a deep canyon created by the Virgin River at the canyon floor. Here’s a couple of pictures……
The pics don’t do justice to the park but you get the idea. Rugged peaks of red and white sandstone, dry desert- like land with a clear trout stream running through it. Turns out, the park is mostly a central road through the canyon following the river, and it’s closed to traffic, since the 1990’s. You park (theoretically) and then purchase a ticket for a bus that takes you through. Hikers can get off at any one of several stops. The last return bus is at 7:15. After some time and frustration we found a spot to park and walked the river trail 3.5 miles, 7 total, beautiful weather and scenery. Added 3 new birds to my life list, Golden Eagle (yes I’ve seen one before but never posted one to ebird), Scrub Jay and Spotted Towhee. Oregon Junco too, but that’s a subspecies. We won’t go back tomorrow; not into bus rides and even though we didn’t see the best views, they say Angel’s Landing is beyond description, we’ve seen enough. On to Bryce Canyon. Not sure where we will stay tomorrow. Got to get to work on that before bed. Might try a freecamping.net site.
We got back just before Croshaw’s Pies closed. We like to eat at local places and roadfood.com is one of our main go to’s for finding them. They hit the bullseye with this one. They make quiche, pot pies, and 34 different sweet pies. We had quiche, soup and a blackberry/ raspberry pie. Perfect.
one more picture
Peggy’s a big help finding birds. Sammy can’t wait to get back on the road
Roses 1.0 Van Life 