Day 12 & 13: Canyonlands NP
and Arches NP, UT

Friday, September 22, 2000

At 9 AM we went on our way to Moab, Utah, where we went by the visitor centre and post office first and arrives at the KOA at 2 PM. After checking in we went back to town to have lunch before 'pitching' camp. We enjoyed taking a shower again - there had not been shower facilities at Cottonwood campground unfortunately.
To take as much out of the day as we could we drove to Canyonlands National Park at 5 PM to watch the sun go down there. While we were there we also noticed the weather changed from windy to actually quite stormy! At night it got worse, our tents were 'flapping' all night because of the wind..
We drove 354 miles today.

Canyonlands NP The White rim, part 1 The White rim, part 2 A broad view
At Grand View Point Overlook Eroded rock (detail) The bigger picture And some more
Marco doing Spielberg Along the Grand View trail Walking towards the sunset At the KOA in Moab

Saturday, September 23, 2000

In the morning we had pancakes and omelets for breakfast at a diner in town. We also bought an extra hammer (for the tent pegs) and -finally- knee support for me.
Have a look at this picture we took from the weather forecast at the visitor centre at Arches National Park. The weather would be getting worse, so we decided we'd cut our stay at Moab short and we'd leave the next morning.

The weather forecast looks pretty bad..

We spent most of the day at Arches National Park. It's amazing to see so many strangely shaped rocks! It was also amazing to be in the rain for the first time during our trip. We had real bad luck with the weather overthere, but the park made up for it.

Arches NP The three gossips Courthouse towers Sheep rock
How sheep rock may have been created Just kidding Balanced rock Igor under the Double arch
Double arch Parade of Elephants Delicate arch Sammie, watching & waiting
Wen & Co coming back Landscape arch "Ahm..." arch Another arch
Salty rocks

"The Brewery" in Moab was where we had dinner that night - actually a very nice place. We all agreed Moab is a great town, so consider this a tip. We also went to the "SlickRock Cafe", an internet cafe, to read and send some mail. Not very wise, we spent about $10 (on the internet costs alone) while at the public libraries it's free.. That's tip no. 2!
We were glad to find the wind had dropped that night, so we slept a whole lot better.
We drove 104 miles today.

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