Rhody Goes West: Moab - Part 2

On our only full day in Moab, Utah, we woke up early ready to tackle the day’s worth of driving and hiking that I had planned for us.  After grabbing breakfast in the hotel, we started out our day in Arches National Park, arriving back in the Windows section of the park at 8am.

D and I at the entrance to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah

With so much to do that day, we wanted to get an early start, but that ended up working out better than expected, because we hadn’t quite adjusted to Mountain Time yet, so 8am actually felt like 10am!  Instead of going over to the arches that we saw the night prior during the sunset, we went over to the West side of that area to where Double Arch is located.

Double Arch - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Inside of Double Arch - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Selfie of D and I at Double Arch - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

Double Arch was incredible, and we were actually able to time it so that we were the only ones there with the exception of the first and last ten minutes of arriving and leaving, and we spent well over an hour climbing the rocks and taking pictures of how beautiful the red stones looked against the blue sky.  Having this arch all to ourselves was so peaceful, and really allowed us to capture some of our favorite pictures from the trip, since no one else was in the way of the scenery. 

D climbed up to the conjoined part of Double Arch - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

D at the bottom of Double Arch - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

After spending much more time at Double Arch than anticipated, we drove North to Devil’s Garden, which is where the campground is and a trail that has about nine different arches along it.  I had originally only planned for us to see Landscape Arch, but after coming across it, I wasn’t all that impressed. The pictures that you see online of Landscape Arch are much different than those that you take in person. And yes, I know that quality of camera and being selective of the pictures that the park uses for advertisements make a big difference, but I’m talking about the arch not looking anything like what it did in person.

Landscape Arch in Devil's Garden - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

I was kind of disappointed, so we didn’t end up spending much time there, and instead, we hiked further into the trails to see some of the other arches.  We ended up stopping at Partition Arch and Navajo Arch, both of which were beautiful. 

Navajo Arch in Devil's Garden - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

One of the best parts about being in this section of the park was that if you wandered off of the paths a little bit you found yourself in the middle of nowhere and you didn’t have to worry about being around a bunch of other tourists.  If you haven’t picked up on it by now, D and I don’t really like being in a big group of people, so avoiding tourists while on vacation is something we really try to do. 

Scenic Overlook near Navajo Arch - Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

While we were at the Navajo Arch, we decided to go off trail a little bit and ended up climbing up some boulders, which brought us out onto a ledge that gave us a 180 degree view across the park. It was absolutely stunning, and having it all to ourselves made it even more spectacular. 

Panoramic view of the West side of Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

With that view in our minds, it was just about lunchtime, so went back to the car to head out towards Canyonlands National Park, where we planned to eat lunch overlooking one of the canyons. 

How awesome are these pictures? Doesn’t this make you want to check out the area? It definitely makes me want to go back, that’s for sure!