Needles and Arches

We never cease to be amazed.  Each place is a little different and each is awesome. The Needles is actually a section of the Canyonlands National Park.  It’s a 86 mile drive from the entrance to Canyonlands near us to the road that leads into The Needles.  The drive itself was as good as seeing The Needles - my opinion, anyway.  First we passed Newspaper Rock, a large rock, so full of informational petroglyphs that it’s considered a virtual “newspaper” of information from one tribe to another. 

 I really liked some of the individual drawings - lots of 6 toed feet…

 

Flying squirrels and big-horned sheep…

And the great bison facing off with the Indian on a horse, bow and arrow at the ready.

The scenery going in was amazing

 

 How about “Wooden Shoe Arch”  Loved it!

 

Finally, “The Needles.  Tall, thin rocks.  We couldn’t get very close and the light wasn’t suitable from our viewpoint, but here is the best we could do. 

Today, Arches.  This was big on our list and well worth it!  WE struggled out of bed at 4:30 a.m. to catch the early morning light in the park.  So glad we did --- a few of the “lesser arches” in the park…

Broken arch

 

Turret arch

 Pine tree arch.  I Know this one is sideways - the program will NOT accept my rotated copy.  sigh.  I'm not going to struggle with this one any longer.

 North and South arches 

 

 Here we are under the North arch

 

Double Arch

 

And what everyone goes to see --- Delicate Arch. This is the one used on the Utah license plates and promotional stuff.  And we can see why!  It’s beautiful.  You can walk to the arch and actually go under it, but that is a 3 hour, 3 mile hike, no shade, and with a 500 ft increase in elevation.  The park service recommends taking at least 2 quarts of water per person.  Our friends Ange and Ray did the hike and highly recommended it.  We decided not to, but I sure wish we could have.  Those dots in the background are courageous hikers, still walking uphill to get to the arch.

 

 Arches is also home of the Fiery Furnace.  This is a back country area that is strictly off limits unless you have 1) a Ranger guide or 2) are familiar with the area and get a permit.  The massive walls create a maze of endless dead-ends and confusing trails.  We didn’t try that either…

 

And here we have Balanced Rock.

A beautiful little canyon called "Park Avenue" that you can explore from the bottom.

 One of the rock formations, shinning in the early morning sun.

By the end of the day’s exploration, we opted for a Mexican meal in town.  Returning back to the RV, we took a nap and awoke to a thunderstorm.  The storm us with a beautiful, full, double rainbow through the campground before the day’s end.

 Monday - went for another early morning photo op, this time at the Dead Horse Point State Park, plus a couple of scenic drives.  Will post them later.  Now we are joining the other tourists in town, gathered at McDonalds, taking advantage of their free wifi while we sip diet cokes.  Tomorrow, RV willing, we drive to the Grand Canyon!