Utah Trip - Arches and Moab

Our last day in Arches was effected by the weather.  We again hit the trail early(a routine I would suggest using regular to any serious hiker wanting to see a National Park without massive crowds). Our first stop was at the Windows Section of the park where we saw

Turret Arch

North and South Windows(also referred to as The Spectacles from the side that this picture was taken)

and Double Arch(seen in one of the Indiana Jones movies)

From the windows section we drove to an area adjacent to the Campground and saw

Sand Dune Arch

From there we hiked a loop trail as it started to rain and saw

Broken Arch

The rest of the day was spent trying to avoid rain drops.  We explored the Colorado River Scenic Byway(Rt. 128) out of Moab.  The steep walled canyon gives something of a precursor of what the river will due a hundred miles or so downstream.

The city of Moab is a very tourist oriented place.  It is said to be the mountain biking capital of the US.  Within the city itself are a number of paved biking trails and outside the city are hundred of miles of trails including one that goes from Moab all the way to entrance road to Canyonlands.  In addition at the city's Visitor Center you can pick up a number of auto tour pamphlets - Native American Rock Art - La Sal Mountain Loop - Colorado Riverway.  We only scratched the surface of the things that could be done in Moab.  There is also a golf course.