Moab, UT & Canyonlands & Arches National Parks (June 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 2023)

​The drive to Moab, UT was down Rt 24 and the eastern part of the park.  I stopped often for glamour photos of the VistaKat #201.  The further east I drove the scenery looked more like a moonscape – barren and colorless.  The closer I got to Moab, UT the scenery became greener and more forest like.  Upon arrival at Sundoor Resort Campground in downtown Moab, UT, I settled and proceeded to do errands and explore downtown Moab.  I found the city park, Swarmee Community Park where I had my picnic lunch and the Food Truck Park for future reference.  I decided to treat myself and went out to dinner managing to find the one restaurant in Moab owned by a couple previously from Philadelphia.  On the menu was a vegan cheesesteak with an Amarosa roll. While at dinner the Moab community bike rally passed the restaurant.  It was clear after talking to people all day and at dinner that were transplants, of the younger generation, and an outdoor lifestyle. 
The first full day in Moab, UT I drove out to Canyonlands National Park a 45-minute drive.  Canyonlands is 337,598 acres of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, arches, and spires in the heart of Utah’s high desert.  Canyonlands has four districts with the most popular being “Island of the Sky” that I visited.  A wonderful resource I found in a Moab UT guidebook was an app “GuideAlong” – I refer it as “ranger in the car”.  When you enter the park if you turn it on as you drive past specific gps location the app will talk to you and share the history, geography, and helpful park information including hiking trails as you drive.  The first park I used the app was Canyonlands National Park.  This is where I learned that I am an east coast girl who can find my way out of a forest using trail markings, but in the desert, I cannot find the Carnes and the trails without getting lost.  After three times missing trails and backtracking, I had to stop any of the longer hikes until I met up with other hikers I could follow. The park was picturesque and interesting, but after so many western national parks, it started to look like a pile of rocks with a hole in the ground. I completed the 34 mile scenic drive through Island of the Sky.  It was beautiful and unique as compared to other national parks.  I went back to Moab Food Truck Park for lunch and shared a table with other visitors with shade and misters.  After relaxing through the afternoon (with electrical hookup I was able to use the air conditioning in the very hot days), I took a picnic dinner with me back to Canyonlands National Park Green River Overlook for the Ranger Program and sunset.  Ranger Lauren taught us about bats while the sun set over the canyonlands vista. 
My timed ticket into Arches National Park was 2pm on Monday June 25th, the hottest part of the day.  I decided to work around this by entering Arches National Park after 4pm on Sunday June 24th to drive the scenic drive and take some short walks in the heat.  And returned Monday June 25th at 5:30am to take the hikes in the park while it was still cool.  I avoided the heat and crowds between 7am & 4pm when timed tickets were needed. 
Sunday Morning June 24th, I walked into downtown Moab for breakfast at Gloria’s and wandered around town.  Found a coffee shop to hang out, read, do some work, and generally relax.  Having a partially lazy day helped me rejuvenate.  At 4:20pm I entered Arches National Park.  It was a very winding and narrow road as I drove into the park using the GuideAlong app.  A lot of the rock formations have names as do the arches.  I stopped at the overlooks and took the short walks, and pullouts to take pictures – Balanced Rock, Delicate Arch overlooks, and Fiery Furnace Viewpoint, and Devil’s Garden.  Along the way I marked the longer hikes I would take the next morning. 
Monday morning, I drove out to Arches National Park arriving at Devil’s Garden, the furthest point in the park at 6am.  I hiked Devil Garden out to Landscape Arch just as the sun had risen and the temperatures were cooler.  As I completed the hike, I moved on to the next one I selected moving toward the visitor center – Tapestry Arch, Broken Arch, & Sand Dune arch, then it was Upper Delicate Arch Viewpoint for a closer look at the Delicate Arch. The last hike was to North & South Window arches as well as Double Arch before going back to the visitor center.  I met very friendly people along the way, specifically three friends from Des Moines, IA who seemed to be hiking to the same places I had selected so we started hiking together.  By 9am the heat started noticeably increasing, and by 10:30am we had finished and arrived at the visitor center.  We met back in Moab at the Moab Garage for lunch together.  It was a fun lunch learning about each other, what our travel experiences had been and what the future was – they were going back to the Airbnb for a nap.  It was over 100 degrees and I had already clocked 17K+ steps for the day.  I had electricity so hanging in the air-conditioned trailer for a nap sounded like a good idea.   
My last day in Moab was about realigning plans.  I organized the trailer, food and plans for my next leg in Colorado.  I also spent the hottest part of the day at the library getting work done and catching up on the business of life.  While at the library I received another curveball and had to realign my plans for Colorado and find something to do for the entire next day.