| Started: | Fruita, Colorado, 8:00am (Mountain time) |
| Reached: | Green River, Utah, 6:30pm (Mountain time) |
| Miles: | 227 (2606 cumulative) |
| Route: |
Colorado - Colorado National Monument Utah - Thompson, Arches National Park |
| Highways: | I70, US191 |
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We drove about one-third of the 40 miles scenic route in Colorado National Monument near Fruita, CO. The road was cut through the red rocks. There were even a couple of small tunnels on the road. We passed a balanced rock. Its an oversized rock atop a slim rock pillar. The rocks on the roadside were all red in color. It was the first time we were so close to the red rocks. We saw the Fruita canyon, and the plains beyond it, with the town of Fruita at the center.
At the visitor center we saw a slide show on the formation of the Colorado National Monument. By 10:00am, we were back on I70, going towards Utah. It was here that we saw the first sign that the next service (water, food, gas, lodgings) was 85 miles away! Most of the services were marked "Ranch Exit" with "No Services" written on the board!
We soon entered Utah, "Still the right place", and saw signs along the highway that read "Eagles on highway". We did not see any eagles, but did see quite a few ravens. We could see the snow-capped La Sal mountains on the horizon, but the area around the road was really arid!
To visit Arches National Park, we took US 191 to Moab.
The hills along the road were now brick red in color!
Arches National Park is mind
boggling! Even from the visitor center, we could see the huge orange
boulders as seen in the photo on the left (Click for a larger image).
Arches has a scenic drive running through it. We decided to do
the drive first. But had to stop at Park Avenue Viewpoint to admire the
rocks! There were two parallel wall of orange rocks, one of which is
seen in the photo on the right (Click for a larger image).
We did a small hike to Landscape Arch from Devils Garden trailhead.
The soil was loose all along the
trail. It was really windy. One gust threw the sand on us with such
a force that we at once understood what forces shaped the arches!
We later walked on a short trail to Skyline Arch, seen in the image at
left (Click for a larger image).
We did a moderately strenuous hike to Delicate Arch.
The trail passes over exposed rocks, so is marked by small
stone piles. We could see red valleys and some small arches along the
trail.
Delicate Arch was impressive! It stood aloof on an orange cliff. The sky
was cloudy, so the photos did not come out nice.
On our way back, we took a detour to the Windows arches, seen in the
image on the right (Click for a larger image).
We came back to the Visitor center, rested for a while, and drove back to
I70. That night we decided to halt at Green River, Utah, after seeing a
sign there "Next Services 110 miles"!!