Canyonlands

Our trip through the area known as the Canyonlands was mostly a driving day with a few stops along the way
which ended at the campground in The Arches National Park.

You can see this cut through the rock in the photo above.

Holes and arches are evident in many of these roadside formations.

This is Wilson Arch, which you can see from the road, but the hike up to it is deceptively difficult.

Dean struck a pose under the arch.

Looking back to the road, the van is tiny, but the overall landscape is amazing.

The Arches National Park

This park in Moab, UT was our favorite. In February, we drove right in, but from April through October you need to make reservations. Here's a segment on CBS Sunday Morning covering how crowded this park gets during the season.
This park is in a “high desert” with elevations ranging from 4,085 to 5,653 feet above sea level in southeast Utah, Arches National Park contains more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches! We didn't see all of them, but we loved those that we did see.

After going through the gate, we did not stop at the Visitors Center, but headed uphill to get to the campground,
with a few stops along the way because the scenery was so amazing.

The three gossips is a famous formation.

We'd come back to the Balanced Rock (2nd structure from the left) later, but here is its overall setting.

Sometimes you can see the arches from the road, but most of them are hidden away in the desert.

The view from our campsite was amazing as well. This was Devils Garden Campground, which is near the center of the park.

The next morning we walked about 1/2 mile from our campsite to trailhead of the Devils Garden Trail. It was well before dawn when we left. Here we approach Landscape Arch before the sunrise.
This 7.8-mile trail ranges in altitude from 5,000 ft to 5500 ft above sea level and
is considered to be the best trail in the park. We agreed with this assessment.

Here is Landscape Arch, which became luminous as the rising sun hit it. We were alone to enjoy this moment.

 
Tunnel Arch is not far from Landscape Arch. We loved this adventure shot.

After Landscape Arch, we continued along the trail to take in some other arches.

Part of the trail runs across the tops of some of these rock ledges. No handrails, but the view is amazing.

The Double O Arch is unusual because of the double-decker arches. Well worth the hike to see it.

We thought this rock looked like a raven.

 
How cold was it? Cold enough that the water bottle held a slushy, not water. We drank it anyway to stay hydrated.

Partition Arch reveals an expansive vista on the other side.

Navajo Arch.

 
Partition Arch from the other side. Coming back down the trail was also treacherous.