Arches National Park 5/28/12

I had been to Arches two other times in the last few years so I decided to go to some sections that I hadn't gone to before:  the Landscape Arch in the Devil's Garden and the Delicate Arch.  There were a lot of people hiking, especially college-aged people.

The Devil's Garden has a one mile hike to the Landscape Arch through lots of rock fins.  It reminded me of Garden of the Gods.

Landscape Arch

The Landscape Arch is pretty impressive.  I think it is as long as a football field.  They say large pieces have been falling off it and they expect it will completely fall soon.  Double O Arch was another 1.2 miles and it wasn't that impressive, not worth the climb and hike out there.  One arch on top of another one..

Double O Arch

For the Delicate Arch, I was tired after 4.4 miles so I walked a mile or so roundtrip to the closest 'viewpoint' to see the Delicate Arch across a canyon.  I'll have to walk up to it next trip.

Delicate Arch

Zion National Park 5/27/12

After dropping off my bear proof container at Bryce Canyon visitor center (the biggest reason I needed to carry my bigger backpack (actually an GoLite Daypack)), I headed over to Cedar Breaks National Monument and then onto Zion National Park.

Great weather, not too hot, probably in the low 70's

Great White Throne

The main canyon is very beautiful with huge stone walls on both sides going up hundreds and hundreds of feet.

 I love the contrast between the rust colored rock walls and the green trees.

I drove up to Beaver, UT to stay the night in a Motel 6 to get a better night sleep and a shower.

Grand Mesa 5/25 East of Grand Junction, CO

Denver had a lot of traffic so I was getting close to Grand Junction pretty late so I decided to car camp up on the Grand Mesa.  I stopped at Jumbo Campground.  The camp hosts were very friendly and helped me to a nice tent site even though it was already dark.

I woke up about 5:30am the next morning and left about 6:15.  Took a few pictures in the early morning light.

Capitol Reef National Park 5/26

I drove through Capitol Reef National Park last year but it was about 6am, before anything was open.  It was a little more interesting this year.  They have a rustic farm and orchards, with petting zoo for kids.  There were trails away from the main part of the park but it was raining.  My last two backpacking trips had cold, snow and freezing rain so I skipped it.  I need to try them on my next visit.  Backpacker magazine was pretty impressed when a bunch of them went in the winter.

Cedar Breaks National Monument 5/27/12

Super windy and cold!  Jeanice and I tried to find it a couple years ago and must have drove right back the turn off.  This time I did see the road.  It was really windy.  I had my National Park pass so it didn't cost.  I ran out to the edge, snapped some pictures but couldn't take the cold so I dashed back to my car.

Bryce Canyon, UT backpacking 5/26-27

I went to Bryce Canyon the first time two years ago on my way to Jeanice to help her drive to California.  My father had told me that if I was ever in Utah to make sure I went to Bryce Canyon.  It was as amazing as he promised.  I've gone back annually and this was my third trip.  Both previous trips, I didn't make it past the main section where the tour buses go.  This year I got a back country permit to camp down below the rim.  I parked the car at Yovimpa Point.  I hiked a little over a mile to overnight at Yovimpa Pass where I had designated I would camp.  I had to set up camp within 250 feet of the Yovimpa Campsite sign.  Saturday, May 26th was pretty windy on the hike down but somewhere in the middle of the night, everything went quiet.  Not a sound.  I still got up about 5:30am because I wasn't sleeping too well.  The views from below are different than the rim, for sure.

In order to bring more water (which I didn't end up drinking all of it), I brought a bigger backpack and my Mountain Smith Daylight lumbar pack.  I could have fit everything in the backpack but I needed most of the weight on my hips.  My backpack isn't long enough since it is so lightweight, even though it weighs a LOT more than the RikSak.

I hiked 8.8 miles total to get back up to Rainbow Point, around the corner from Yovimpa Point.  Here are some pictures I took from the viewpoints on the drive back.

Eagle Canyon on San Rafael Swell, UT 5/26/12

On my way to Capitol Reef