Roadtrip Day 8 (Arches National Park 2)

I saw some of the rocks that I didn't get to see the day before, and then took a dirt road out into the nether regions of the park to go on a hike to see the arch pictured here (inset, links to same Flickr photo set as previous post). It was several miles out, again in the 110F+ heat (I don't really know how hot it was, but I'm certain it was at least 110F). The arch is much bigger than it looks in the picture. If there were someone standing under it in the picture, you would barely be able to see them. After hanging out under the arch for a while in the glorious shade and snapping some photos, I headed back. By the time I got back to my truck I think I drank 1L Gatorade and 1.5L water, and nearly sweat it all out.

I had this brilliant plan to take a "shortcut" off road trail (one way only) out to the highway, but with all the stuff in the back of my truck, I was riding a little bit low and could clear some of the ups and downs, so I had to backtrack the way I came along the dirt road. Although this time it was four wheel drive Colin McRae style, and it still took me well over an hour to get out of the park.

I had lunch and some drinks at the Moab Brewery, which you may be familiar with if you're into beer. Moab is one of those places where people go to have fun in the desert. Good for mountain biking, and lots of rentable desert vehicles. But I didn't have my bike, and I needed to hit the road so I could get some quality time in at Monument Valley the next day.

Along the way, I was driving through some really incredible country, and I wanted to go exploring, but it was already dusk. I checked out the map, and it turns out the area is called Valley of the Gods, so I'm not the only one who thought it was pretty cool. There were storm clouds on the horizon, and I got lucky and captured some cool sunset and rainbow pictures. (inset photo links to Flickr set)

I arrived in Monument Valley well after dark and spent the night at the Monument Valley campground trying not to get eaten by coyotes or strange desert bugs.