Arches

Arches National Park is 2 miles north Moab on route 191 and 6 miles north of the camp ground I stayed in. As the name implies, the park’s claim to fame are its numerous arch rock formations. I must have heard from a dozen people on my way to Utah that I must see Arches. I had barely unpacked the motorcycle when I discovered my neighbors were riding to the park. I decided to tag along.

Sam and Guy were ready to leave when I arrived. I tried my best not to hold them up, but when I got on my bike to follow them, I discovered I had, once again, nosed the bike down a slight dip when I parked and I had to wrestle with it for several minutes before I could get it out. I’m sure I looked pretty comical to these Goldwing owners (both Sam and Guy had identical 2003 blue Goldwings) because Goldwings have reverse!!! I never understood why that was good until now; now I really understand. They waited patiently for the five minutes it took for me to finagle the bike out its parking spot.

We got to the park around 6:00pm. Guy and Sam were in a rush. Their plan was to wiz through the park and then dash on over to another park to watch the sunset. They had been told the best place to see sunset in Utah was Dead Horse Point National Park which was about 30 miles away from arches. Sunsets are a big event in these parks. Rock formations that are dull and washed out during the bright day turn amazingly colorful at sunset and sunrise. I’m told people clap at the Grand Canyon after sunsets.

I wanted to stop and take pictures. My new friends tried to accommodate me, but our goals in the park were different so we agreed to separate.

Everything I was told about Arches was true. It is a spectacular place, and you can see a lot of it from your bike / car. There’s a problem, however, you cannot see many actual arches from the roadway. To see an Arch up close, you have get off your bike (or get out of your car) and hike.

The Utah licenses plate has a picture of an arch from the park on it. I set out to find that arch. It turns out it’s called Delicate Arch, and it’s only accessible two ways. One way is to take a 1.5 mile hike to the arch itself. I wanted to do that, but the parking lot for the trail head was full. The other way to see the arch is to take a .5 mile hike to cliff that provides a view of the arch; that’s what I ended up doing.

I reached the place to see the arch a few minutes before sunset. The trail to the viewing area lead up to an exposed cliff with shear drops in excess of 200 feet. There’s nothing up there to protect you from yourself. Anyone stupid enough to get too close to the edge could find themselves on the canyon floor real quick.

At sunset, as advertised, the cliffs and rock formations look like they catch fire. All the dull washed out colors change into bright reds, oranges, whites, and greens. I watched the whole show and found myself still in the park after dark, and the key word there is dark. There is no light pollution out here. Dark is dark.

I remembered the numerous blind curves and deer crossing signs I encountered on my way in as I started the bike and slowly drove the 15 miles back to the park entrance. I lead a parade of cars at least 30 long. I’m sure they wanted me to go faster, but I knew hitting a deer on the bike meant nothing but hospitalization and an expensive airline ticket home. So I drove the speed limit and frustrated a bunch of people.

One more thing about how dark it is out here. It’s actually wonderful (if you’re not trying to navigate a motorcycle through winding turns in a national park filled with wildlife). Absent the ambient light from large cities and highways, the night sky out here is incredible. It’s like how I remember it as a boy in Pennsylvania. The sky is full of thousands of bright stars and you can see the Milky Way!! It’s been more than 20 years since I’ve seen the Milky Way.

I’m running a day behind on my blog entries now. I spent the today riding from Moab to Bryce Canyon (280 miles). I rode through blazing desert and lush green valleys surrounded by enormous green mountains that reminded me of Northern California and the Sierras. At the end I toured Red Rock and Bryce Canyons. Both were amazing, but I can’t write anymore tonight. Stay tuned because I still have to tell you about the wobble the bike has developed and tomorrow I go to Vegas baby!