CO Road-trip 2012: Day 11

After getting out of bed we checked out of our hotel before continuing west on I-70 towards Arches National Park. Eight years ago, B and I came to Arches National Park just after sunset and were not able to really see anything. We only drove a little ways into the park before turning around then. We told ourselves that we would have to return one day and actually see it in the light. That day had finally come. We decided to take a more scenic route to the park, so just after we crossed into Utah we turned off the interstate and took UT-128 southwest. This was a great decision since the scenery along this route was beautiful. We picked up the Colorado River along the way and followed it through a nice winding canyon before coming into a more open area. All around us were interesting rock formations that reminded us of a mini-Monument Valley. We picked up the river again and followed it to just north of Moab. Along this section, we stopped at Negro Bill Canyon and let Penny out to stretch her legs and go to the bathroom. Once we were in the park she wouldn't have any opportunities. Next, we turned northwest onto US-191, crossed over the Colorado River and quickly came to the entrace of Arches National Park. We took our traditional entrance sign picture and began driving up the steep road at the southern end of the park. The first stop was at the Courthouse Towers Viewpoint where we took some pics of The Organ, Tower of Babel, Sheep Rock, and the Three Gossips. As we drove further north into the park we passed by the Petrified Dunes and stopped at the Balanced Rock parking area. We actually had to park across the road from the parking area along a dirt road because a huge tour bus was blocking the entrance. We walked the little loop trail around Balanced Rock and took a few pics while trying to avoid a group of hungover college kids. After this, we turned right to head towards The Windows. Along this road we passed by Ham Rock, Garden of Eden, and the Parade of Elephants before parking at the end of the road along the loop. Here, there were a ton of cars and we had to park off the side of the road in a small space after asking an Asian couple to move their vehicle a little further forward. We started by walking The Windows loop trail counter-clockwise. In this way, we saw the North Window from a distance and came up to Turret Arch first. After waiting a little while for some people to clear out, we took a few pics and climbed through the arch before continuing on. Next, we came to the South Window before walking along the backside of The Windows. Once we completed the loop we walked passed our car towards Double Arch. I made some small talk with a Chinese man who had set up his tripod from a prime view. I took a few pics from this view before rejoining B. We walked to the base of Double Arch and took a few more pics once the few remaining people climbed down from within it.