Pictures of Our Trip to Arches NP and Navajo NM
 

OK, we finally got to go camping this year and decided to revisit Arches National Park in Southern Utah. This is tied for second place as my favorite NP with a couple others and I was not disappointed with it on this trip. We did the trip in two short (200 mile) legs stopping overnight at Navajo National Monument in Northern Arizona both ways.

Navajo NM does not see a lot of visitors, so it is quiet and peaceful. It has two "boondock" campgrounds with excellent "vault" toilets and we stayed at campsite #6 on the Rim Campground both times. The first picture shows our trailer and truck at the campsite (there's a table and grill off to the left out of the picture).

The second picture was our view from the campsite, looking to the East across the canyon there.

It had rained for at least two days before we arrived and third picture was one of several ponds in the rock at the edge of the canyon that was still there on our return stay.

Navajo NM has at least three cliff dwellings of the Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloans). The fourth picture shows the one near the Visitor Center called Betatakin ("Cliff House" in Navajo). It is situated in a huge alcove measuring 452 feet high and 370 feet across and was built between 1267 and 1286. You take an easy, paved walk for close to a mile to see it.

The fifth picture shows the canyon with Betatakin at the left side in the shadow. You can take a Ranger led hike down to the actual ruin, but it was only done on Tuesdays, so we did not do that.

There are warnings in the camping area about mountain lions, and I guess for good reason. The last picture shows one of many paw prints we discovered in the morning on our return stay just below where we were camped. My guess is, the cat was there to get water from the rain ponds.

One of the nicest features of this National Monument is that there is NO fee for entrance OR for camping! They DO, however, take donations and we gave them one each time.

The camping sites at the Rim Campground are well separated and what we prefer. The other campground, called Sunset Campground, is more civilized with paved parking sites and water availability. But, the sites are much closer together and many have no view at all.

More on our trip in the next post, when I get to it.

- Jack

Beautiful, Jack! I hadn't heard of Navajo NM before but sounds like my kind of camping so it's on the list now. Have never been to Arches either but am planning to get there someday.

Looking forward to further posts!

Our Adventures at Arches
 

The next installments cover our stay in a campground on the Colorado River just outside of Moab, Utah and Arches National Park. I had wanted to stay inside the park at Devil's Garden Campground like we did before, but they were ALL reserved. This place has become so popular that you have to sign up 6 months in advance!

However, we were lucky and got the LAST campsite at Granstaff Campground, on the Colorado, which is one of a chain of campgrounds along the river. I should say we were VERY lucky, because these are generally taken by mid-day and we arrived at 1:00 PM on a Thursday!

The first picture shows the trailer parked in front of the river and the second, the river itself with the cliffs that are the border of Arches on the other side. The Colorado always seems to be muddy, but that didn't stop several paddle boarders or kayakers. And, an occasional speedboat traveled up and down the river too. The only downside to the campground was the highway behind us and we had to get our water at the visitor center in Arches. But, the campsites are nicely laid out with screens of trees between them for a sense of privacy. Two vault toilets at ours (for 16 sites).

There's an outstanding hiking trail just across the road from Granstaff that I'll cover later, and, the cliffs at Granstaff are the most impressive, in my opinion.

On our first full day here, we visited and hiked the "Windows Section" of Arches, and the next pictures cover that area. This is the most concentrated collection of natural arches in the park, and, you can walk right up to and under most of them.

The third picture is one of many I took of Double Arch, which I think is the most beautiful arch formation in the park. From the people under it, you can see the size of this thing! You reach it by walking an easy, 1/2 mile trail from the northern parking lot there.

Arches start out as shallow caves in the cliffs that are formed by "spalling" of the sandstone due to water freezing and thawing. The fourth picture is an arch forming to the right of Double Arch. When we come back in a million years or so, it should be fully formed.

To the left of Double Arch are formations called The Parade of Elephants. The two most obvious ones are in the fifth picture.

Finally, we walked up through the south parking lot and up another "loop trail" (also easy) to the North Window. That's Janet in the foreground.

I'll let you catch your breath and continue in the next post.

- Jack

Beautiful. For some reason I have never made it to Utah. Dumb. Sad to hear it is this crowded this time of the year..... But these photos will convince my wife to go. Missed That part of NM when I was out this summer but I will be back. Thanks for posting

Rick

More at Arches
 

There are three major Arches in the Windows Group, and, several smaller ones that I won't show you. There are also some beautiful views, such as the one I'm showing you in the first picture of the La Sal mountains that I took from a position near the South Window.

Here, in the second picture, are the North and South Windows. You can't easily get up "inside" the South Window, because it's a steep, loose, rock climb to get there. I've not seen anyone do it, either this trip or my last. But, the trail takes you to an excellent vantage point to see it by itself. I took a picture of it there that I'm not showing you.

Across from the Windows is Turret Arch. So named I suppose for the rock shape on its left side. The third picture shows it and, you'll notice there are actually two arches there. You can clamber up into it, which I did.

It seems to me that every park that features rock formations has a "Balanced Rock". The forth picture shows the one at Arches. I think there are more impressive ones, such as the one in the Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, but this one sits on a very high pinnacle. I took this picture from the picnic ground across the road from the dedicated parking area, which is always crowded.

After lunch, we traveled up to the viewpoints to see Delicate Arch, the iconic arch that is featured on Utah license plates. The lower viewpoint is a short easy walk from parking. We hiked to the upper viewpoint, which is at the end of a 1/2 mile trail that has a climb of maybe 150 ft at the end. The last picture shows what you see from this viewpoint and you can see the people at the arch itself, which is reached by a different route (later).

The next post will cover our trip into Canyonlands.

- Jack

A Diversion
 

Just south of Arches is Canyonlands National Park. In the research I've done, there are some really beautiful places there, but Canyonlands has two downsides. First, it's HUGE! Second, almost all of the really interesting sounding places are only accessible by 4WD over VERY poor roads, by long hikes, or, by rafting through the Colorado or Green Rivers, which join inside Canyonlands.

My 4WD F150 is too long for the 4WD roads in Canyonlands, and they were all closed anyway during this visit.

There are two major entrances, one at the northern end called Island In The Sky, and the other, near the south called the Needles District. We'd been to Island in the Sky before, so this time we decided to try Needles.

On the drive into Needles, you pass through some really scenic terrain, but it doesn't photograph especially well, so I won't show you any of those pictures. One interesting place though, was Newspaper Rock in Indian Creek Canyon. This is a Utah State Historic Monument that features a large, concentrated collection of petroglyphs dating from about 2000 years ago up to relatively modern times (including some present day graffiti, sadly).

The first picture is a portion of Newspaper Rock. The petroglyphs are formed by scraping away the black, manganese-iron deposit that forms on exposed sandstone over time.

The second picture is inside Canyonlands, and is as close as we got to the "Needles". The Needles cover a very large area, and you need something like a Jeep to get into them.

From inside the Park, we went back out and then drove into the Needles Overlook, which is further north and lies outside the eastern boundary of the park. The overlook is at the end of a high bluff (maybe 1000 ft?) that extends like a peninsula toward the west. The third picture shows the first view from that position. You can see the Colorado River canyon across the low land in the foreground that winds in front of the cliffs that are further distant. That canyon has the whimsical name, "Meander Canyon". There are a number of dirt roads though the badlands just below us and we saw one vehicle down there, not moving.

From a viewpoint further left, looking more to the south, you see the Needles District again in the fourth picture.

I could not resist the picture I'm showing you last here. I saw this tree on the way in and immediately thought of the "Tree in Africa" we see so often. Africa has nothing on us! Those are the La Sal mountains in the distance.

More at Arches next.

- Jack

Delicate Arch
 

The next day we went back into Arches to do the hike up to Delicate Arch. This is a "strenuous" hike, about 1.6 miles one way, and an elevation gain of 480 ft with little shade. But, due to the "up and down" on the trail, there's a total climb of over 700 ft (at least that's what my GPS recorded. You need plenty of water for the trip and good footwear.

As you start out, you pass the Wolfe Ranch, built by John Wesley Wolfe who came here when he was 69 years old in 1898. It's made of cottonwood logs, has a wooden floor, a real window and a thatch and clay roof. There's also a root cellar as you can see in the first picture.

Then, after a series of "ups and downs" you begin the long climb up the slickrock shown here in the second picture. Again, that's Janet right in front of me, probably thinking, "Why am I doing this?"

Here, in the third picture, is the iconic view of Delicate Arch from the last ridge you climb over. I had to wait a while to get a picture with no one in it, because people keep walking under the arch to get their picture taken. I have to say though, everyone was being very polite, they took turns so that only one person or one family was under the arch at a time.

So, I had to join the fun and Janet took this picture of me under the arch that you see here in the fourth photo. You can really see how big this arch is if you compare it to me. I'm 5' 11" tall. In my opinion, there's nothing "delicate" about this arch at all. I think I'd have given it a different name, maybe "Horseshoe Arch", or "The Big One", but no one asked me.

I think it's neat how Delicate Arch stands all by itself on that ridge. The high peak of the La Sal mountains is framed in the arch in these pictures, but it's hard to see due to the haze.

The last picture gives a good sense of the slope down the slickrock during the return trip. Janet is quite a bit ahead of me near the center of the photo. If you look hard, you might make out the parking area to the right of the highway in the far distance.

Another diversion next, and our return though Monument Valley.

- Jack

Negro Bill Canyon and Monument Valley
 

I mentioned earlier there was an excellent hiking trail just across the highway from Granstaff Campground. This is named after William Granstaff, who was a mixed race cowboy who settled here in 1870. The canyon features a beautiful, clear water, perennial stream that you follow all the way to an awe-inspiring natural bridge called Morning Glory Bridge after walking about 2.6 miles.

For the most part, the trail is an easy, walk in the park, shaded, good footing path. But, it DOES cross the stream several times. Most of these crossings are easy rock hops over shallow areas, but one, the second from the last crossing, is tricky and the water is deep on both sides. Naturally, I lost my balance there and sort of fell in. It doesn't matter - even if you fall in, you MUST go on. The bridge is worth it! Supposedly, there is a 330 foot elevation gain on the trail, but I didn't notice it.

The first picture is near the start of the trail. We've just crossed the stream here.

The next three pictures show Morning Glory Bridge. It was difficult to get a picture that does it justice. It's in the end of a box canyon with high, vertical rock walls. The place is almost magical, and we spent at least an hour there.

The second picture in the set of three gives you some idea of the size of the bridge. That's Janet in front of the guy with the red shirt near the far end. We were told that people had bungee jumped off the bridge some time ago. The bridge (it's really an arch) is 243 feet long and is the 6th largest rock span in the United States.

Finally, it was time to return home. On the way, we drove by Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona State line. This is a Navajo Tribal Park, and it cost us $20 to enter. The first picture is from outside the "fee area" and the last two are inside the park itself. You can see a dirt road in the park and we could have driven through it, but since I was pulling the trailer, I passed on that.

So, that was our trip, and I hope you get a chance to go to these places yourselves someday.

Edit: I missed one! The last picture was one of many roadside Navajo stands selling jewelry, but I think the rock formations it's under are fascinating. This was located about 60 miles north of Flagstaff, in Arizona.

- Jack

Great recap and pics, Jack. For anyone that not been to the Arches and think you might go, you might also consider Mesa Verde in Colorado, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Canyon De Chelly (Chay) in Arizona. Canyon De Chelly is not impressive as the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, but it is worth the trip. All three locations are fairly easy drives from Moab, though I have not been to Chaco Canyon for a number of years and the dirt road in was very bad. Last year I spoke to a ranger at the Aztec ruins in New Mexico and was told the roads to Chaco had been paved part of the way.:rolleyes:

Jack, we travel through Moab last summer, in a car. It was very busy with tourist, but so beautiful! We saw so many nice places to stop, if we had a travel trailer. That was one of our motivators to buy one. Now, we just need to plan a trip back up there. Thanks for the beautiful photos.

PapaRoe, have you lived in NM very long? There are great Native American sites on the way to Moab, including Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chey (AZ), ruins in Aztec, NM and of course Mesa Verde in Colorado.:)

We moved here late 2015. We are planning on visiting some of the Native American sites, now that we are settled in our new home, and have a travel trailer. Many years ago we made a couple of different trips to the 4-corners area, and really enjoyed visiting the clif dwellings at Masa Verde.

Arches is one of my all time favorite National Parks! The one that ranks above it is Rocky Mountain NP. I've got lots of pictures of Rocky, from recent trips, and I should post them.

We're planning a week's stay on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon again this year. Won't be going till August.

I want to visit Carlsbad Caverns before I become too decrepit to do some of the ranger-guided trips into some of the other caves there. Maybe, if I can get my act together, I'll do it this summer. Not the best time to be down low, but I think it would be worth it.

- Jack

We're going for a short trip, with a local travel group, to the Ruidoso area in a few weeks. Then in late summer we going out to Pittsylvania to visit our oldest son (Jack, named after his old man). I've planned the trip out, with some nice stops, but not the return leg. We're really looking forward to traveling with our 22t.

Hey Jack after being gone from Az. for 15 yrs. The pics. are like old home week. That whole area was one of the best places to lay your head down come night fall in the canyons... Thanks again.. JIM

JIM - You're most welcome! I love this area.

- Jack

Moved to Tennessee in 2009 but still miss the West! Moab is one of my favorite parks for sure! I also lived in Utah. What beautiful country!