The Last Day Where We Played Tourist

For the last day we returned to where we had gone the first day--Arches National Park. This time, however, instead of riding bikes, we drove. On the bikes we couldn't go out to any of the arches. We joined the sea of humanity as typical tourists. Drive...park...walk to the arch...pose for photos...return...drive to the next arch...and so on. We did the following arches--Double Arch, North and South Windows (also known as the Spectacles), Turret Arch, Delicate Arch, and Sand Dune Arch. Of these, the only one I hadn't been to before was Delicate Arch. I had been to the viewpoint, but not the actual arch. Delicate Arch is a 3 mile roundtrip hike with a fair amount of climbing up slickrock. Initially, at Double Arch, it was fairly sunny. Then the clouds rolled in along with winds up to 20 mph (seemed like more than that at times). It wasn't particularly cold, and there wasn't any rain. Except for the wind, it wasn't bad. Here's some photos.

Double Arch

Sitting in Double Arch

Looking down from our perch

Going to North Window

South Window

Karen picking the nose of The Spectacles (North and South Windows)

Turret Arch

Selfie with Turret Arch behind us

The Sea of Humanity on the way to Delicate Arch

Maybe not for those who fear heights

Me at Delicate Arch

Standing under the arch

The bowl near Delicate Arch

After Sand Arch we decided to head back. I had been out to three of the arches at Devil's Campground before, so I told the gals it was up to them if they wanted to go see Landscape Arch, and a couple of smaller arches. They were okay being done. They were tired from their late night the night before, and I think we were all kind of tired of the wind, and all the people. It seems we have more tolerance for a difficult bike ride or hike than wading through a sea of humanity! We came back into town and had a final celebratory meal at one of the Mexican restaurants.

The last supper...in Moab

It's been a fabulous week! We did so much! Am I all fired up to get a mountain bike? Even though it was very fun, I don't think so. Since I don't really have a car to get to the trails, it seems silly to get a bike. For anyone planning to visit Moab, I would highly recommend the Jeep Tour. It's worth every penny! Speaking of Jeeps, we are getting out of town just in time. People are starting to roll in for the Easter Jeep Safari. If we thought there were a lot of people here now...