Living Our Dream

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park was located about 15 miles from where we were staying at Red Canyon RV Park near Panguitch, UT. We had visited Bryce Canyon back in 2007, but we wanted to see it again.

Bryce Canyon National Park lies along the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. It is not a canyon at all, but a series of natural amphitheaters formed by erosion along the edge of the plateau.

As we mentioned in our last post, we had a problem with our washer/dryer, and we were waiting for a repair part to arrive. We got the part on Monday and got the washer/dryer fixed; but over the weekend, we had plenty of time for sightseeing while waiting for the part to arrive.

We started our visit to Bryce Canyon with a stop in the visitor center to watch the movie on how the canyon was formed. Most of the national parks have movies that tell about the park, and all the ones we have seen have been excellent.

From the visitor center we drove to the far (south) end of the park to a pair of adjacent overlooks called Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point. Here, we enjoyed the expansive views to the south.

Looking south from Yovimpa point you can see the red cliffs at the edge of the plateau trail off in the distance.

And looking north from Rainbow point you can see the curve of the southern part of the amphitheater. The elevation at the southern end of the park is over 9,000 feet above sea level.

Bryce is known for its red, orange, pink and white cliffs and spire-like formations called hoodoos. The hoodoos were formed in the same way as those we saw in Red Canyon. Relatively warm days in winter cause some of the abundant snow (Bryce gets an average of 8 feet a year) to melt and run down into cracks in the rocks. Cold nights cause the water to freeze and expand, which enlarges and extends the cracks. Heavy summer rain storms wash away the smaller pieces of rock creating gullies. Capstones protect some of the underlying rock as the gullies widen creating fins of rock. Continuing freezing, thawing and erosion further divides the fins into hoodoos.

Bryce Canyon National Park is a relatively easy park to visit in one day if you're not planning to do a lot of hiking. The park road is only about 16 or 17 miles long, and most of the main overlooks are either right along the road or only a short walk of a few hundred yards from the parking area. The southern end of Bryce Canyon doesn't have as many hoodoos as the northern end, so if you were really pressed for time, you could just visit the northern part of Bryce Amphitheater from Bryce Point to Bryce Canyon Lodge.

Fortunately, we had more time so we stopped at all the overlooks. The next photo is from Ponderosa Canyon looking south out into the valley. Ponderosa Canyon is a couple of stops north of Yavimpa and Rainbow Points (about 3 miles), but already the formation of fins is more evident.

Continuing north about another mile, the next stop was Agua Canyon. Here, we saw more distinctly-formed hoodoos, including the one in the next photo that looked like someone with a large head holding a baby.

At the same stop was another interesting hoodoo that was a large, jagged rock perched on top of a pillar. The flat top to the pillar is a harder capstone that is protecting the pillar from being eroded away.

Natural Bridge is located about 1.5 miles to the north of Agua Canyon. Bridge is somewhat of a misnomer because the definition of a natural bridge says is was formed by a stream. This formation was created by the same forces that create hoodoos, so it is technically an arch.

We made several additional stops as we drove north. The views were breathtaking. However, with all of the national parks, pictures don't do justice to the beauty. There's just nothing like seeing it in person.

Unlike Zion National Park, private vehicles are still permitted everywhere in Bryce. However, there is a shuttle that runs from outside the park, to the visitor center, and makes several stops along the popular, northern end of the amphitheater. The shuttle is a good way to get around if you want to sit back and let someone else do the driving. Bryce Point is the southernmost shuttle stop. At Bryce Point, the pink and red cliffs extend out farther from the rim, and the hoodoos become more numerous.

Probably our favorite overlook was Inspiration Point. From this area you can see dozens and dozens of fins and hundreds of hoodoos.

Sunset Point is on the opposite side of an amphitheater from Inspiration Point. At Sunset Point we listened in on a ranger talk about the geology of the area and how the various rock layers were formed as sediment under a sea that once split North America, and under a large, inland lake that once covered much of Utah. The different layers are the result of advancing and retreating water levels. We also enjoyed views of more fins and hoodoos. The next photo from Sunset Point is looking back toward inspiration Point.

Numerous hiking trails start at the northern overlooks. Although there is a trail along the northern part of the rim that we followed several times for short distances, most of the trails drop down below the rim and are quite steep. We considered taking the Navajo Loop Trail, shown in the photo below, that starts and ends Sunset Point. However, we changed our minds when we saw how steep it was. Not only that, but part of the loop was closed due to a rock slide, so we would have had to hike half the trail, then turn around and retrace our steps.

After our stop at Sunset Point, we headed toward the park exit. Still within the park boundary, but outside the entrance station is a one-mile spur road to Fairyland Point. There was a trail at fairyland point that wasn't too steep at the start, so we followed it for a ways. Although the hoodoos here weren't as spectacular or as numerous as they were at Inspiration or Sunset Points, the trail let us get a closer view of some of them.

We also got a nice view of Sinking Ship. The tilt of the rock layers looks like the prow of a ship that is sinking.

When the trail at Fairyland Point started to get steep, we turned around and headed back to the car and back to the motor home.

As we said, the parts for the washer arrived on Monday as scheduled, and we were able to get the washer fixed and to catch up on laundry. Never thought the sound of the washer/dryer could sound so sweet. Catching up on laundry was important because our next stop was at a state park without sewer hookup. We'll tell you about the state park in our next regular post.

Zion National Park Part III: Zion Canyon

Zion Canyon is considered to be the main part of Zion National Park, and it is the most popular area. It is so popular personal vehicles are prohibited from driving in the canyon in summer unless you have a red permit because you're staying at Zion Lodge. There are shuttles that run up and down the canyon frequently that are fairly convenient.

We parked at the visitor center and hopped on a shuttle. There are 6 or 7 stops along Zion Canyon where you can get off for photos and to hike. We decided to ride the shuttle all the way up to the end of the canyon, then work our way back down the canyon getting off at various stops.

The last stop at the upper end of the canyon is at the Temple of Sinawava. This area is named for a Paiute medicine man and is a large, natural amphitheater. We decided to take the 2.2-mile hiking trail from the temple of Sinawava that follows the Virgin River upstream to an area of the canyon known as The Narrows. We'll have more about The Narrows a little later. 

As we approached the last stop the shuttle driver pointed out the large rock formation Known as Angles' Landing (to the right in the photo below). At an altitude of 5,785 feet, Angles' Landing provides a spectacular view of the canyon, and it is a popular hiking location.

We chose not to attempt the Angles' Landing hike because it is a difficult hike that takes 4 or 5 hours round trip. It has steep climbs and long, steep drop-offs. As the shuttle went around the back side of Angles' Landing we could see hikers (the little white dots in the photo below) at the top of the ridge going up to Angles' Landing. There are chains and cables up there to hang onto.

From the Temple of Sinawava you can see the Great White Throne (the tall formation on the left in the background). The smaller, red formation in the foreground is called the Organ, so named because the vertical rocks in front look like pipes. Early pioneers gave the rock formations biblical names.

The canyon was fairly wide at the start of our riverside walk. That's the Virgin River in the foreground.

Farther along the canyon began to narrow.

It was morning, so we were on the shady side of the canyon. Since we were near the Summer Solstice and the sun was HOT, the shade and the cooler air along the river were welcome. We made several stops just to enjoy the shade and listen to the rushing river.

The canyon walls along the trail have many areas where water seeps out from the porous sandstone. The seeps provide water for hanging gardens of maidenhair fern, vines and other plants.

At the end of the paved trail, you can continue walking up the river. This part of the hike is called The Narrows.

You can go an additional 16 miles up the canyon, although a permit is required to go more than 5 miles. We didn't plan go beyond the end of the trail because we heard, and we can verify, that the water is very cold.

There are places in the upper part of the canyon where it is so narrow you can stretch out your arms and touch both walls. For that reason, hikers need to be aware of the possibility of flash floods, which is the reason a permit is required to hike more than 5 miles up The Narrows. It doesn't have to rain in the canyon itself for The Narrows to flood, so the rangers monitor the area weather and won't issue hiking permits if there is a chance of flooding.

We retraced our steps back down the river trail to the shuttle stop and rode down the canyon to Weeping Rock. Weeping Rock is a large, deep, rock overhang with water dripping down over the front ledge and seeping out from the back of the overhang. Although the walk is relatively short, it is quite steep, and Margery didn't attempt it when we were at Zion back in 2007 before her knee surgery. This time she made it easily.

The next photo is the view from Weeping Rock out into Zion Canyon.

From Weeping Rock we rode the shuttle to the stop at Zion Lodge. The lodge was originally built in the 1920s, but it was destroyed by a fire in 1966. It was rebuilt the same year, but the original rustic design was lost. In 1990, the original rustic appearance of the exterior was restored.

The Zion Lodge area is the location of several trail heads. The Emerald Pools are a series of pools on three different levels, and they are a popular hike. The hike to the lower pool is listed in the visitor guide as easy. It is 1.2 miles round trip, but it is fairly steep. The hikes to the middle and upper pools are longer, steeper, and more difficult, so we decided on the hike to the lower pool.

The photo below shows the lower Emerald Pool as we approached it. The name comes from the color given to the pools by green algae at certain times of the year. We obviously weren't there at the right time of year because the pools were a rusty brown.

The lower pool is below a rock ledge, and it is fed from two waterfalls from the middle pools above the ledge. The trail goes behind the waterfalls...

...and out the other side of the overhang.

While Margery rested for the hike back down, Paul continued along the trail a short distance for yet another perspective of the one of the two waterfalls.

From this vantage point Paul could see he was almost the same level as the middle pools, and it looked like they were only a short distance farther. So he went back and convinced Margery we should continue on to the middle pools. Well, it turned out to be a lot farther than it looked. [oops :-) ] The trail twisted and turned, and we had to climb considerably higher, then come back down to reach the middle pools. We finally made it, and the next photo shows the view out into Zion Valley from one of the two middle pools. The other middle pool is farther back from the ledge.

It was also a lot farther from the middle pools back down to the trail head. With the other two hikes we already made that day, we had been hiking for a total of over four hours, so we were pretty tired. But we had one more stop in Zion Canyon before heading back to the motor home.

Our last shuttle stop was at Court of the Patriarchs. The Court of the Patriarchs consists of four towering sandstone cliffs, three of which are named for three towering figures from the Old Testament. The fourth is named for Moroni who is a figure from the Book of Mormon. From left to right the peaks are Abraham (6,890 ft.), Isaac (6,825 ft.) and Jacob (6,831 ft.). Jacob is the white peak on the right in the back. The red peak in front on the right is Mount Moroni, and it is actually smaller than Jacob at 5,690 ft.

We took the shuttle back to the visitor center, picked up the car and drove back to the motor home. It was a full day, but we were gratified that we were able to do all that hiking, and that we were able to take in the beauty of Zion National Park. From Zion, we moved the motor home up the road about an hour and a half, which is closer to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Zion National Park Part II: Kolob Canyons

There is a relatively-unknown, little-visited area of Zion National Park located in the northwest corner called Kolob Canyons. Kolob Canyons are a series of narrow finger canyons located about 40 minutes from where we were staying in Virgin, UT, and about an hour from the main entrance to Zion National Park.

There is a 5-mile scenic road with views of the canyons.

Along the road there are several pull-offs where you can get a closer look at some of the canyons. Notice the black streak to the right in the next photo. It is a small creek flowing down a hanging canyon along the side of the main canyon.

 

The formation in the next photo is where a large slab of rock broke off back in 1983. The slab broke off near the right end where the area at the base has less vegetation.

At the end of the scenic road is an overlook with a spectacular view of the row of canyons.

There are several hiking trails in this northern area of the park, but most of them are longer and more difficult than we wanted to tackle. There is one, however, that is only about an hour long, but it is considered to be a moderately difficult hike because of the relatively steep elevation change in a short distance. Timber Creek Overlook Trail goes along a ridge on the west side of the canyons.

Along the way, we saw numerous cacti and wildflowers.

At the top of the last hill at the end of the trail we got a view toward the south and the upper end of Zion Canyon.

The return hike was mostly downhill. Once we got back to the car, we headed back to the motor home by way of the Dairy Queen in nearby Hurricane, UT. The frozen treats tasted good on a hot day.

Our next outing will be to Zion Canyon, which is the main area of Zion National Park. Stay tuned.

Zion National Park Part I: East Zion

We left Las Vegas and headed north on I-15 toward Zion National Park. We went to Zion back in 2007 before Margery had her knee surgery, and we wanted to go back now that she can enjoy hiking. Last time, we stayed on the eastern side of Zion where we could easily get to both Zion and Bryce National Parks from the same campground. This time, we couldn't get reservations on the east side, so we stayed on the west side at Zion River RV Resort in Virgin, UT.

The back-in sites around the perimeter at Zion River RV Resort are a little narrow and a little short. We started out with a back-in site, which wasn't very level. It was an extra-cost river view site, but there is a 6 to 8-foot high berm along the river so you can't really see the river from your RV. We asked to move to a pull-through site, which are a little wider and a lot longer than the back-ins so we would have more room. The back-ins are all gravel, but the pull-throughs are paved with grass between the sites. There are full hookups with 30/50 amp electric, free Wi-Fi and cable. The photo below shows our site at Zion River RV.

And the next photo shows is a view down the road from our site.

Zion River State Park could be considered a great destination park. They have regularly scheduled activities throughout the week including Candy Bar Bingo, Wine and Cheese for the adults, Dutch Oven dinner demonstrations, as well as special events like a horse shoe tournament, luau, pioneer days, and more.

Zion National Park is divided into two main sections - East Zion and Zion Canyon. Zion Canyon is the most popular area of the park. In fact, it is so popular you can't drive private vehicles up the canyon during summer. You must take the shuttles, which run frequently and are actually fairly convenient. Zion Canyon is lined with huge sandstone monoliths, while East Zion has mainly more rounded formations that are made up of cross-bedded sandstone that were originally desert dunes. There are more hiking trails in Zion Canyon, but we kind of like the less-crowded atmosphere in East Zion, and we like the colorfully-striped, rounded dunes.

Although Zion River RV Resort, a Good Sam Park, was expensive at $53 a night, it was a good thing we ended up on the west side of the national park instead of the east side like we originally wanted. When we got there we found out Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway that connects Zion Canyon with East Zion and the east entrance was closed during the day Mondays through Fridays during the time we were there. They are totally rebuilding the switchback section of the road. We planned to spend most of our time on the western side, but we definitely wanted to spend at least one day in the eastern side.

Note: starting June 27, and continuing through the summer, the closures of Zion-Mt.Carmel Highway are rescheduled for nights (8:00 PM to 8:00 AM) rather than days. Check the national park web site for updates if you are planning to go.

We arrived at Zion River RV Resort on Saturday, and we planned to chill out around the motor home on Sunday and watch the NASCAR race. However, since the road to East Zion would be closed on Monday, we changed our plans and went there on Sunday.

As we said, East Zion has a completely different look from Zion Canyon in the main part of the park. The next photo is looking back at some of the Navajo sandstone monoliths in Zion Canyon as we climbed the switchbacks to East Zion.

 

After the switchbacks, we drove through the 1.1-mile long tunnel to East Zion. Contrast those high sandstone cliffs in the photo above with the more rounded, dune-like appearance of the sandstone on the eastern side of the tunnel.

 

Zion Canyon was settled by Mormons back in the mid 1800s. Early pioneers gave most of the rock formations in Zion Canyon their names; but before the tunnel was built in 1930, very few people could get to East Zion. Therefore, very few of the formations in East Zion have names. One exception is Checkerboard Mesa. It gets its name from the crisscross pattern on its surface. The horizontal lines are the result of cross-bedding created by changing winds depositing sand on the dunes in different directions. The vertical lines are cracks that are a result of stress caused by freezing and thawing and from water erosion.

Checkerboard Mesa is located almost at the eastern entrance of the park, so from there we headed back to the west. We stopped along the way at a couple of pull-offs for photos.

 

Our target hike for the day was Canyon Overlook Trail. The trail head is about 200 feet on the east side of the tunnel portal, and the parking area is a couple hundred yards up the road from the tunnel. Canyon Overlook is only about one mile round trip, but it is a moderately difficult hike because of all the ups and downs and because of the steep drop-offs along the trail. The next photo shows us at the top of the first climb of about 50 feet.

 

We saw lots of lizards scurrying across the trail. Most of them were in a big hurry to get out of sight, but the one in the photo below climbed up on a rock and posed for us.

In some places the trail is very narrow, and in one place the drop-off was so steep there was no place to cut a trail, so they built catwalk.

At the other end of the catwalk was a nice, cool, wide overhang that comes at just about the right place in the hike going both directions. The shade was refreshing. Seeps along the back of the overhang provided moisture for maidenhair ferns.

Speaking of a narrow trail, the raven in the next photo is taking a drink from a puddle on the trail that came from a seep higher up the hill. Not only was the trail only about a foot wide, it was also wet.

The next photo is taken almost at the end of the trail. You can see the rounded sandstone from the eastern side in the foreground and the higher sandstone cliffs of Zion Canyon way off in the distance.

And finally, we were rewarded with a view of the lower Zion Canyon. At the bottom left and center of the photo, you can see some of the switchbacks we came up on the other side of the tunnel.

After taking in the view for a while we headed back toward the car and back to the motor home. We were glad we found out about the road closure in time to get over to the eastern side of the park during the weekend when the road was open. Our next outing will be to Kolob Canyons located in the northern part of the park.

Arches National Park Revisited

 Shortly after arriving in Moab, we went into Arches National Park to the visitor center to reconnoiter. We picked up a map to plan our activities for this, our return visit. We watched the excellent video on Arches and Canyonlands that we didn't have time to see when we were here last year.

Unlike Yellowstone, Arches is not known for wildlife. Being a desert environment, the wildlife is generally smaller; and much of it is active only at dawn or dusk because of the heat.

Arches does have, however, a population of about 75 bighorn sheep. Bighorn sheep are very wary of humans and blend well into their surroundings so sightings are pretty rare. This sculpture outside the visitor center was as close as we got to the real thing.

One of the things we really wanted to see in Arches was Landscape Arch. At about 300 feet long, Landscape Arch is believed to be the longest natural arch in the world. Landscape Arch is located in the Devils Garden area at the far (north) end of the park. It is about a 2-mile, round-trip walk from the parking area.

We went into Arches early one morning so we could make the hike to Landscape Arch before it got too hot. On our way into the park, we passed an area called Park Avenue, which has big, blocky, rock towers.

Balanced Rock is located at a central area of the park, and we passed it several times while we were there. Every time we passed it, Paul wondered out loud how that rock is still sitting up there.

Sand Dune Arch is located along the main road a little before Devils Garden. We decided to stop to try it as a warm-up for the hike to Landscape Arch. Although Sand Dune Arch is only a few hundred yards from the parking area, the walk is a little difficult because it is over loose sand. Here we are between the red rocks on our way to see Sand Dune Arch. Paul liked the way the green shrubs contrasted with the red rocks and sand.

The photo below is a view out from the narrow passageway between the red rocks.

With the surrounding red rocks and with red sand underfoot, there is an interesting red glow surrounding Sand Dune Arch.

Margery was so excited to be able to walk among the tall rocks. She couldn't resist standing under the arch for a photo. It's really hard to describe the massiveness of these formations.

After the walk to Sand Dune Arch, we drove to the parking lot for Devils Garden and headed down the trail to Landscape Arch. As you can see from the photo below, there are a few ups and downs, but the trail is fairly wide and smooth; and Margery had no trouble.

In spite of its 300 foot length, the stone at the top of Landscape Arch is very thin. The thin section at the right end is only about 6 feet thick.

In 1991, a 73-foot slab fell out from under the right side of the arch. On June 5, 1995, a 43-foot chunk fell, followed by a 30-foot piece on June 21. Although it is believed the rock that fell wasn't structurally important to the arch and may have actually reduced the stress on the arch, no one knows how much longer that 6-foot thick section will stand. We marveled at the long, graceful span. We took quite a few photos, including the one below of some rancher.

About two weeks after our visit to Arches, we heard that Wall Arch had fallen. Wall Arch was located just a little way down the trail from Landscape Arch; but at the time we were there, we hadn't heard much about Wall Arch, so we didn't plan to hike to it. If we had known then that it was going to fall, we certainly would have made the extra effort to go see it.

On the way back to the car, we spotted this butterfly looking for nectar in the wildflowers. This is the sort of thing we missed when we were restricted to seeing things from the car.

Paul got pretty far behind while fooling around with the camera. Although you can barely see her, Margery is ahead on the trail just about at the top of the hill near the center of the picture.

When we were almost back to the car, there was a side trail to a couple of other arches. The trail was a little steep, so Paul made the walk by himself while Margery headed back to the car. First on the side trail was Tunnel Arch...

...then down the second branch of the trail was Pine Tree Arch.

The other arch we wanted to hike to was Delicate Arch. Delicate Arch is very well known and has become the symbol for Arches National Park. It is used on T-shirts, in travel ads, and just about anywhere Moab or Arches National Park is mentioned. It even appears on Utah license plates.

There is a viewing area for Delicate Arch that is at about 3/4 mile away "as the crow flies." Even though the photo below has some telephoto zoom, it pretty much shows what we saw last year from the remote viewing area.

 

This year we wanted to see Delicate Arch "up close and personal" so we made plans to have an early dinner and head into the park around 5:00 PM. We had read the arch was supposed to be beautiful in the evening light. We thought the temperature might be starting to drop when the sun got a little lower in the sky, but it was 101 degrees when we parked the car at the trailhead.

The newsletter they handed out when we entered the park said the walk to Delicate Arch was only a mile and a half one way, but that it was strenuous. Paul thought how bad can it be when it's only a mile and a half? Well, we found out the trail has a rise of over 480 feet in that mile and a half. The hike is partly over gravel paths with rock steps, but the major part of the climb is up sandstone slickrock. It is called slickrock, not because it is slippery (although it could be if it were wet), but because it is so smooth.

Arches National Park has an underlying salt bed. The salt is unstable under the pressure of the mass of the overlying rock, and it is this instability that helps give Arches some of its unique geological characteristics. The route to Delicate Arch starts out in Salt Valley, which is a place where the underlying salt has been forced to the surface. The photo below from the edge of the slickrock near the start of the trail looking down into Salt Valley.

Margery's knees did fine on the hike, but she has had an ongoing problem since she was young catching her breath during exertion. The problem is called exercise-induced asthma, and she has an inhaler to use when she knows she is going to do strenuous exercise. The problem is, she had become so used to NOT exercising strenuously because of her bad knees, she didn't allow enough time for the inhaler to become effective before we started out. Consequently, she became very winded very quickly, and we had to stop and rest numerous times.

Every time someone coming down from Delicate Arch passed Margery while she was resting, they told her it was just a little farther or just around the next bend. After four or five "one more bends," she was beginning to get discouraged, but she didn't give up. The climb was very difficult for her and there was a lot of stops to catch her breath; but Paul was very proud that she stuck with it and made it to the top.

Delicate Arch is located with a steep precipice behind it and with a bowl hollowed out of the sandstone in front of it.

Paul walked around the edge of the bowl over to the arch and stood under it. The arch looks deceptively small until you see it in relation to a person. The opening under the arch is about 45 feet high.

From this angle, you can see why it is named Delicate Arch. The rock section on one side is very thin.

We hung around for a while with a couple dozen others (most of whom were speaking French) enjoying Delicate Arch in the evening sun. We still had to make our way back to the car before dark, so we eventually decided to get going. In the photo below, Margery is starting the hike back down. You can see how really narrow the trail along the side of the cliff is in some spots.

 

The photo below is the view over the edge of the cliff where Margery is walking in the photo above. The path is the dark area in shadow at the bottom right. You can see several stages of arches forming in the rocks opposite the trail. Maybe someday, one of these "wannabee" arches will be big enough to take the place of Wall Arch, which fell shortly after we were in Moab.

When we were near the bottom, we looked back up the slickrock and saw many of the people who were up at Delicate Arch with us thundering down behind us.

Most of them ended up passing us before we got to the car, but we finally made it. We were out of water by the time we got to the bottom, and we were glad we had some COLD water in reserve in the thermos in the car.

The trailhead for Delicate Arch is at the parking lot for Wolf Ranch. John Wesley Wolf and his son, Fred, settled on a 100+ acre tract along Salt Creek in the late 1800s. The tiny cabin in the photo below was the second, improved cabin that John built. The Wolfs lived in an even more primitive cabin for more than a decade until John's daughter, her husband, and their children moved to the ranch. His daughter talked John into building the existing, upgraded cabin with a wood floor. And yes, it was very small for all those people. Although it was dusk and the light was fading, Paul stopped for a quick photo of the diminutive cabin.

Once again, like at the Grand Canyon last year, there were many foreigners visiting our national parks. Additionally, there were innumerable rented RVs from Cruise America both at Yellowstone and Arches. Cruise America is the nation's largest RV rental company with a fleet of over 4,000 vehicles and foreigners comprising half of the rentals.

It was a long, but rewarding day. We were glad we were able to see Delicate Arch, to see Landscape Arch a few days previously, and to spend more time in Moab.