I left Estes Park Colorado this morning at 6:00 a.m. and headed to Moab Utah. Moab is the gateway to Arches National Park and is considered the mountain bike capital of the world. I arrived around 1:30, checked into my hotel and then headed over to the National Park which is only about two miles from town. I’ve known about Arches National Park for years but have never visited because it is for the most part out in the middle of nowhere. All I really knew about Arches was the various pictures on calendars and postcards. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with Arches National Park because it is much more than a few impressive arches here and there. The Park is filled with multiple rock formations, beautiful canyons, and huge walls of rock and stone. The trails in the park are relatively short but all lead to many impressive vistas and close-ups of arches, canyons, and huge towers of stone.

I spent about three hours in the park hiking and taking pictures. I had originally planned to also visit Canyon lands National Park which is only 30 miles from Moab but I was too tired. Tomorrow may be the longest day of my trip. I hope to get up by six and go mountain bike riding on the slip rock trail which may be the most famous mountain bike trail in the country. Then, I will continue my National Park tour by visiting Capital Reef, Bryce, and Zion National Parks. I don’t know if I will get to each one but I sure am going to try.