Arches National Park and Canyonland National Park

Delicate Arch

The theme of this post is city boys. A term i learned from my friend living in Denver Colorado. So why city boys? We dont hate city boys but just like to make fun of how people think when they have lived their entire life in a city and wilderness to them is like going back to stone age. I thought it was funny but i found it hilarious when i went back to work on Monday ( after my trip to Moab) and the first thing my co worker tell me is " i took this amazing panorama pic of time square." all i did was smile- so now you get it CITY BOYS.

Seems like you stumbled to this post or blog because you were searching for some adventure in Moab. In that case you are atleast better than city boys described so briefly above. As pointed out to you in my previous posts that i try to make most of time while travelling on my employers money. Majority of the time my conferences either last entire week or until Wednesday and i take the rest of the week off. This was the case with this trip.

Day 1: 
My conference ended on Wednesday in Dallas and i left for Denver Colorado the next day. Two reason i love Denver 1) love the mountains 2) enjoy the company of my long time friend and his girlfriend. My buddy picks me up at the airport and we start exploring Denver. I had to do some shopping for this trip and the best place to shop for outdoor goods is REI. They now have a branch in New York City.

I needed an Air mattress + some scotch + shorts + pair of woolen socks. I highly recommend woolen socks if you like hiking and they are about $11 a piece. Also if you register with REI as amemebr you save some money and it is a one time charge of $20. Totally worth it.

Day 2: Friday
We start driving from Denver towards Arches National Park early in the morning. The road is amazing and the view is gorgeous. You will pass through Aspen which simply breathtaking. Since it was early in the summer you could see the snow peaked mountains. The total travel time was like 7 hours. So if you start at about 8 in the morning you should be good.

If you have enough time at your disposal you will see signs for hanging lake ( which i have heard is very scenic). For lunch we tried this place called Shooters Grill in a small town called Riffle Colorado. The amazing thing about this place is that the waitresses carry riffle. The food was good and the atmosphere was TENSE ( just kidding).

About camping: I have learned from past experiences that researching the place is the key to a happy trip. Note that there are very few camping sites in Arches National Park and they are first come first serve. If you are a last minute traveler you may find it hard to get a site. But do not get disappointed. The Bureau of Land management has ample sites around Moab. Moab is a small town between Arches National Park and Canyonland National Park.

Devils Garden Hike

Moab is so well placed that if you go for a week you can see both the parks and be content. In case you don't get a site on the Bureau of Land management (BLM) sites there are a few private camping sites in Moab as well. Note that these sites are not fully functional hence you will have to carry your own water and food. They do have camp fire pits. They do have restrooms but no showers. The private camp sites allows you to use their showers for $6 which is great.

We camped on the BLM camp site and cooked our food on the camp grill. Dinner consisted of marinated chicken and some scotch. As always you will end up seeing a lot of starts and that is what so great about camping.

Day 3: Saturday:
We woke up at 6:00 AM and headed to the Arches National Park main office. They will recommend you some trails you should do. But i had read online that the Delicate Arch Parking gets filled up and so we planned to drive at the Delicate Arch first. On the way to delicate arch there are some beautiful scenic spots.

The hike to Delicate Arch is not difficult but since it is so famous a lot of tourist visit it and you may end up spending sometime waiting to get a good picture.

The other good hike that everyone recommended was the fiery furnace but the guided tour gets filled up really early and i recommend a 2 month in advance planning for this. You can do the fiery furnace on your own but it is not recommended . You will need a permit to do it on your own. Note that the rangers do not recommend this hike if there is no guide with you.

ON the way back from Delicate we stopped and had our lunch. There is very sweet picnic area right ahead of the delicate arch. you can also get a glimpse of the Fiery Furnace on the way to the picnic area. If you are not exhausted and have another few hours you can try some other small hikes such as the Balanced Rock and  Devils Garden. The following images are from the Devils Garden Hike,

We then drove to Canyonland National Park as it is only a 45 mins drive from Moab. I loved the majestic size of this park. I know a lot of you would disagree but i loved this park much more than the Arches National Park. You Can drive upto the Islands in the Sky and it is magnificent. I wish i had more time at hand in this park.

The only thing we did after Canyonland was take a shower and grill some sausages. We carried Sausages, chicken, sandwiches and Oatmeal for this trip. We also shopped in Moab for Smores and had them as desert.

Day 4: Sunday:

You will always see an image of Sun rising in the canyonland. The Arch called the Messa Arch in Canyonland is supposedly the best place to witness it.

A word of caution: No matter how early you wake up you will always see a crowd of photographers.

Messa Arch - Canyonland National Park

We woke up at 5:00 AM and were in the Park at 6:15 and still had to make way to see the magnificent sunrise.

On the way to Colorado i was lucky enough to spot some Mountain Goats near Georgetown Colorado. Make sure there are no cops around and you can pull your car on the side of the highway and click some cool pics.

Well this concludes my Adventure in Moab and Colorado. Keeping my Fingers crossed for some more adventure soon.



Resources:

1) Shooters Grill : Link
2) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) : BLM sites
3) Camping Sites in Moab :Moab

balanced rock