Arches N.P. with Bob and Steve with a Hike to Delicate Arch

 Wednesday, April 20

I rode with Bob and Steve and we motored our way into the Arches National Park to allow them to check out the sights; it was their first time at this park you see.

After first checking out Balanced Rock, we turned our motorcycles towards the parking lot/trailhead for Delicate Arch.  The hike up to the arch is 1.5 miles and it wasn't too bad since the weather was nice and our pace was OK.  The crowds at the arch weren't as bad as I had feared.  This was, by the way, my first time at the Delicate Arch.

Bob and Steve lined up in the reasonably short line to pose under the Delicate Arch.  Soon, it was their turn.

image courtesy of Steve L.

Steve L.

Bob and Steve

Bob W.

Bob and Steve with the side rock formations near

the Delicate Arch

A view of how steep things are at the 

Delicate Arch, as seen through a "window"

in the rock formations before one arrives at the arch.

another view of the sandstone formations seen

from the path to the Delicate Arch

yours truly

image courtesy of Steve L.

After a rest break in some shade, we made our way back to the motorcycles with no issues and proceeded on to other rock formations within the national park:

Skyline Arch

A tired Bob at Courthouse Tower

Park Avenue

We returned to the campsite to find the neighboring spot occupied by three RVs and some assholes playing music way too loud.  After dinner, I decided to go scouting for another site; the guys understood and were quite willing to get away from the noisy assholes next door.

I found a site further into the Dalton Wells area, and we all did a hasty displacement to it.  Ah, quiet once again.  We lit a nice fire and toasted the regained silence with some Makers 46 Bourbon.

In the morning, a neighboring site was emptied and since it was "mo better", we moved to it once again.  This time, it was only about 200-300 feet across the main Dalton Wells trail.   The prevailing winds will now keep the road dust stirred up by passing UTV/ATV traffic away from us, so that's good as well.

There's also a better internet signal here as well.

Thursday, April 21

After a leisurely morning of moving to the new site and some chores, we all drove into Moab in Bob's truck to check out the town.

After a lunch at one of the tourist traps, we visited the Moab Museum.  It's a tiny facility but there were some interesting nuggets of info interspersed with the usual old western living items.  

In case you wondered where the name of the town came from, and no, it's not the initials for Mormons On A Break; or Mother Of All Bombs.

Charlie Steen's bronzed boots, he was known as

the Uranium King in the town's heyday as Uranium

Capital of the world.

There were several small kiosks displaying vintage photographs of town living/personalities and such.  One that caught my eye was the sight of "Uranium Jewelry" being sold.  If those people only knew....

After some wandering around the tourist trap shops along the main drag, we finally left town and returned to camp.  Steve L. went for a ride by himself, while I helped Bob W. deal with a leaky connection on his camper's hot water tank.  This involved another trip into town for the parts involved, but now that is fixed.

So, Thursday was a pretty easy day, and with the exception of Steve, no riding by either Bob or myself.