Arches National Park and Dead Horse Point

To try and beat the heat, we were out the door by 7 for the short 5 mile drive to Arches NP.   And already, the crowds were filling the parking lots of the various trails.   

 This is the Courthouse formation.....very imposing.

 The Window Arch Trail is short and gentle and perfect for the old and young.   For little effort

 we were able to see 3 different arches.    It was very tricky and annoying to try and capture the colors of the sandstone in this early hour.    The shadows were deep and I tried different settings with limited success.

 In the midst of the scrubby landscape, this large jackrabbit appeared, seemingly undisturbed by the humans.    I can't imagine how it survives without obvious water or succulent plants.

 This is the base of one of the windows.....without a person for perspective, it's hard to visualize its quite delicate size for holding up the top.  

 That is me and my shadown and the arch's shadow.    It started to get warm about this time.

You can see the size of this one with the people at the base.

 Despite the climbing temps we were undeterred and armed with plenty of water, we headed over to

 Devils Garden Trail.   The Japanese in their tour bus got there first.    You can pick them out long before they become recognizable as they come covered from top to bottom to ward off the sun....even wearing white gloves.    I'm sure their melanoma rate is a lot less than us uncovered wanderers in our shorts and tanks.   The trail was also gentle but had some steep ups and downs and was about 30 min one way.

 Not a collared lizard but colorful in it's red  dots.

 Our destination was Landscape arch and it was very hard to get a picture of it.   It's sort of like taking a picture of the Grand Canyon, which you see in 3D but just can't capture on film.     This was as close as we could get as parts of it fell off and it is now very thin at the top.   It happened in 1991 when some hikers were relaxing under it and heard loud cracking and managed to escape just in time.    One of them did capture pictures of it falling and they are posted on the signage.   Knowing that it actually did happen makes me reluctant to get under those arches and balanced rocks....I'm basically not very brave.

 Not sure what these very pale lavender small flowers are.....could be some type of aster.   My book didn't have them or at least in a form that I recognized.    Coming back to the entrance, the canyon provides very welcome shade.

 We were out about 4 hours in the heat and it became quite unbearable as we headed back for showers and lunch and maybe a siesta.........

 Later, we headed over to Dead Horse Point, a popular destination ...... legend has it that horses were rounded up on a peninsula over the Colorado River.....their exit was blocked and they all died.    I think they should have named it Pretty View or something that leaves a better image.

 If you look at that grey flat mesa in the center, at the  left base is Hurrah Pass, then go right to the taller redder mesa and on the other side is where Chicken Corner ends.  

 This is the majestic view from the overlook on Dead Horse Point.   The muddy Colorado River winds it's way thru the 2000 ft canyons.   Again, I had trouble getting the color I wanted.   You'll just have to come out and see it for yourself.

Here is the Prince's Plume......The bushy plant  puts forth many of these long spikes.

I enjoy several blogs of wanderers like us.......They share campgrounds and restaurants and must see sights along their travels.    It is a great resource.   One that I've followed recently is Joe and Gay's travels.   They are especially generous, giving great descriptions , excellent pictures and mileage and signage.    And then I discovered that they are camped in our CG !!   We were able to meet up and share tales of the road.       They will be here most of the month so we'll look forward to more catching up.   Thanks Joe and Gay for stopping by.!!