Arches National Park

We are home again after two and a half weeks and over 3000 miles (nearly 5000 km) of driving. We visited four national parks, Grand Canyon, Zion, Canyonlands and Arches and two state parks, Coral Pink Sand Dunes and Dead Horse Point. We hiked over 90 miles (145 km) of trails, slept in the back of our van eight nights, in our backpacking tent four nights, out under the stars one night, and in motels four nights. Most of our hiking was day hiking but we did one night of backbacking in Canyonlands.

We hiked down into Grand Canyon twice, though not to the bottom. We had intended to camp at the bottom of the canyon but no campsites were available due to a washout at the Cottonwood campground. We hiked the Bright Angel trail to Indian Gardens one day and the South Kaibab trail to Skeleton Point the next day. The first hike involved going down 3000 fee (915 m) into the canyon (and then back up again). The second was a drop of 2000 feet (610 m), all of which had to be made up again.

The second week of our trip we camped and hiked with our oldest daughter who flew in from Northern Ireland. We picked her up in Salt Lake City and dropped her off there again on the way home. She was with us in Canyonlands and Arches. When camping she had the back of the van and my wife and I had the tent. When backpacking she had the tent and my wife and I slept under the stars. This had become an annual event for us and for her, but we have not yet decided our next destination.

This is Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. It can be seen from several easily reached viewpoints but we hiked about three miles (5 km) on a trail that included some rather precarious spots along narrow ledges to see it. Arches was our favorite place, but that was only because none of us had been there before. The photo was taken with my phone and I've posted it along with another phone photo since I have not had time to download the 2000 photos I took with my camera.