National Parks Tour - Part IV

Prepare yourself for arches, arches, and more arches, but no McDonalds at Arches National Park. I'm not good with names, so you'll just have to trust me when I tell you they really are different. We started out with a quick hike to Delicate Arch, first seen through...
...wait, that's not delicate...
...there it is!
After rounding the corner for the full view...
...along with a guy who carried his bike 1.5 miles uphill just for this picture, but probably safer then what we would do. 
Regardless, here's a few pictures without people.
At different angles...
...and with two people doing handstands! ("Who are those two? They must be suicidal! We're not calling the paramedics.")
Jumping pictures
Tunnel Arch
Pine Tree Arch
Landscape Arch
Partition Arch
Partition Arch at a different angle.
Navajo Arch
Double O Arch...
...with sunning lizards...
...and stomping lizards. Don't worry - the drop off isn't too far on the other side...
...or is it.
Unique landscapes (I'm sure there's an arch in there somewhere)...
...with mountains in the background.
Confusing signs confusing people.North Window
More mountains while I wait for the others to climb up...
...Turret Arch. Of course, most people were taking pictures of the turrets on those two.
Still climbing around Turret Arch, providing a little perspective for their massive size. (The arches that is.)
North and South Window, combined to look like an eagle.
I think this is the North Window again with a rock hanging precariously...
...and a Chris waving on the left.
No caption needed... I just wish Shayna knew what she had coming. Somehow they claimed to be making fun of me when this picture was taken.
Do you see the Elephant Butte? (Yes, the one in the background.)
Double Arch
Climbing around inside Double Arch...
...and looking back at the trail. Look at the people walking to the arch for a better feel of how big it is.
If you click on it, you can see 4 arches in front of the mountains.

Posing...

...on a rock?

Or is that Atlas?

Meanwhile, Shayna keeps Balanced Rock balanced. That wasn't all for that day or for Arches National Park. But, it was time to head out and catch sunset at Canyonlands National Park, so stay tuned for Part V.

National Parks Tour - Part III

From Bryce Canyon (National Parks Tour - Part II), we drove through Capitol Reef National Park and headed for Goblin Valley State Park. It's truly in the middle of nowhere, but if you happen to be driving through the middle of nowhere, you can't help but stop and play.

I don't know if it's bomb proof, but I'm sure this gas station will hold up in a storm as it's built right into the rock.

Now this looked dangerous, so I stopped and waited for the kid with no helmet to crash as he steered his mountain bike down the cliff. Fortunately for him, he didn't crash while I sat poised with the camera.

Here's the view of Goblin Valley. If you look close, you'll see some people standing on a hoodoo in the middle to provide some perspective.

Meanwhile, we headed off into the sunset...

...jumping from rock to rock...

...finding pigs atop hoodoos...

...people sitting on thrones...

...and Shayna riding a horse.

You don't need much of an imagination to see how the pig turned into a lizard atop the hoodoo as the sun set in the distance.

After hiking to the large white doom in the background of earlier pictures, we had a good view of the people below, wandering, running and hiding amidst the hoodoos...

...with snow capped mountains in the background...

...and a blurry leaping Joe.

Can you see the 3 people sitting on thrones? Too bad for the guy in the middle who had his head cut off and handed to him at his feet. Meanwhile, the guy on the left doesn't want to hear any of it and the lady on the right looks on contentedly.

Riding a turtle?...

...while Chris just looks on, making sure we don't get lost.

I should offer a reward for those you can correctly identify the green "stuff" that appeared on the railing as we ate our dinner. But I'm cheap, so I'll just tell you that it's stiff asparagus and there's a trash can just out of view of the camera. I don't have to explain the rest do I? Hopefully not because we had to pack up and head to Arches National Park where we would spend the next 1.5 days exploring!

National Parks Tour - Part II

After hiking, rappelling and river walking in Zion, we headed to Bryce Canyon for some more adventures and amazing scenery. When planning this trip, I didn't anticipate snow in Bryce Canyon in April, but much to my enjoyment, there was still snow covering the canyon as we hiked across...

...but of course we had to get a handstand in first.

This panoramic was taken from either sunrise or sunset point. Click on it for the full effect.

Water, snowshoes and granola bars - check. Sunscreen - uncheck.

The famous "Wall Street" path was closed due to falling rocks, so we took a different trail down into the Canyon...

...offering spectacular views...

...lonely hoodoos...

...and new arches...

...with Chris holding them up. (After looking at this picture, we determined to feed him more on the next trip.)

Peek-a-boo...

...I see you.

I say this every time I'm there, but pictures just don't do Bryce any justice.

Click on the panoramic for another spectacular look back at Sunrise and Sunset Points.

Towering hoodoos...

...all grouped together.

I'm sure these pictures look the same to you, but when you're hiking through the canyon, every time you turn, it looks different as the sun and clouds dance across the horizon, casting shadows and rays on different areas.

We can't always be choreographed in our smiles...

...or our lonely walk up to Bryce Point. I'm sparing you (yes you, Mom) a picture of the sign we bypassed for the steep climb out.

Bryce Point - click on it for the full effect.

During the summer, there's a shuttle that can take you from Bryce Point back to your car... but not in April. I was confident we could hitchhike back. Much to my dismay, we ended up walking the 3 miles back to the car and were even turned down by pick-up trucks were we could have just hopped in the back. Oh well - it was good exercise anyways. But next time I'm going to try limping and see if we get any more sympathy.

Another cool arch - which you'll see plenty of in a future blog post. You'd think that would be enough adventuring for one day, but not for this crew. After driving for a few hours, we were on to more sunset adventures that you'll see in Part III, coming soon!