There were hardly any cars in the parking lot (everyone was in the National Parks) and we were able to have a leisurely hike to the arch.
There were a few places that tested Chris's acrophobia.
After about a mile or so, the first view of the arches was terrific.
The first arch is called "Bowtie Arch".
The second arch is "Corona Arch". We were able to enjoy it with only four other people there to interfere with my photography.
Apparently, they have had problems with rock climbers swinging on ropes from the arch.The arch has also been featured in an advertisement where a small plane flies through the arch!
After returning to the car, We drove to Dead Horse Point State Park.
The park is a high mesa, 2000 ft above the Colorado River providing great panoramas of the Canyonlands area. According to legend, the point was once used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa. Cowboys rounded up these horses, herded then across the narrow neck of land and onto the point. The neck, which was only 30 yards wide, was then fenced off creating a natural corral surrounded by precipitous cliffs. The Cowboys then chose the horses they wanted and for reasons unknown, left the other horses corralled on the waterless point where they died of thirst. This is the location of the the corral fence.
We did some of the rim hike that provided many overlooks of the canyons.
As we were hiking by a large mesquite bush, we encountered a rare Jackalpoe.
We left the park at around 4:00 PM and decided to take a drive into Arches National Park.
By the time we got there, it was Photography Happy Hour as the sun was getting lower on the horizon.
We got back to the motel by 7:00 PM and headed out for supper. We had a patio seat right on the main street (with infrared warmers) and continued to marvel at the number of vehicles carrying bikes, ATV's, trail bikes and all sorts of recreation equipment.
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