We haven't seen all the highlights of Arches NP so far. So we went back to the park the next day for walking up to the Delicate Arch, probably one of the the best known natural arches. The trail up is steep but very beautiful, you basically just walk on a giant boulder.
Obviously we weren't the only ones at the arch. People were sitting and photographing all around on the amphitheatre shaped viewpoint.
The arch itself is just stunning. It's always amazing what erosion, wind and weather can do to stone within hundreds, thousands or million of years.
On the trail back to the parking lot.
We went for another offroad trail in the park today and drove through Salt Valley towards the intersection of the Tower Arch Trail.
Right at the intersection we run into these guys, Gunnison Prairie Dogs?
We didn't take the trail to the Tower Arch hiking trail, we went for the shorter one which allows you to drive almost a loop back to the main park road. While the road to the start of that trail was a nicely gravel road, it started getting rough now, like really rough for us greenhorns.
Better airing down the tires at this point.
It honestly was quite a challenging trail for me. Steep uphill with a lot of rocks, steps and bumps. My dad was the spotter and photographer at the same time and as you maybe know, multitasking just isn't a man's thing.
And it always looks easy in the pictures of course!
We made it to the top of the hill surprisingly flawless. Once again we both were absolutely amazed by the ability of the Land Cruiser. What an amazing truck! Going down the hill was an adventure for it self. Even with being in low-gear you feel the heavy weight pushing and you realize that its brakes really are kinda worse. But after knocking on rocks with the rear bumper for a couple times, we made it to the bottom.
After that rocky section of the trail, you find yourself driving in a small and sandy wash. It's a lot fun until you reach a big boulder to climb over. There was a group of Jeeps right in front of us driving down on the steepest side of the boulder, not straight, in an angle and almost rolling over. We took the chicken track.
And down it goes
After driving in the wash for some time the terrain opens and we were on a beautiful sandy track with an amazing scenery around us, completely alone but still inside the national park.
About a mile before entering the main park road, we turned back on the trail we did yesterday which brings you out of the park to Highway 191. After leaving the park boundary, which is about after half of the trail, you find yourself on BLM land where wild camping is permitted and for free. We passed by several potential camp spots the day before but already had paid for the night in Moab.
We found a very nice spot on the slickrock which offered a beautiful view over the flat.
Another Highlight has been scheduled for the next day, Canyonlands National Park.
