We drove down early in the morning on Friday and got checked into our bed and breakfast. After stopping buy, we went straight into Arches where we spent the day hiking to the more accessible arches. All in all, I believe we hiked about four and a half miles in total Friday.
Our first hike took us to three different arches...
Turret Arch:
And the North/South Windows:
Sharing the same parking lot was the trailhead for Double Arch. Double Arch was cool because you were able to climb right up inside it. We spent a good 45 minutes or so just hanging out inside the arch.
Afterward, we went to Sand Dune Arch. This was probably my favorite hike of the trip because it takes you right through these giant fins:
The trail was as sandy as any beach. Tucked away inside was Sand Dune Arch:
Our next step was Skyline Arch. The arch sits pretty high on the rock, so I thought this might be an bit more interesting perspective:
Our final hike of the day was to Landscape Arch. To get there, you take the Devil's Garden Trail. There were two other arches on this trail, but the lighting didn't provide very good photos. Here are a couple views from the trail:
When we finally made it to Landscape Arch, the sun was directly behind it. Definitely not good shooting conditions. I took what I could get and wasn't really planning to keep any of them, but when I converted this shot to B&W, I think it actually turned out pretty interesting:
After that, we headed into Moab and ate at the famous Zax pizza where we got all you can eat pizza. It was pretty good.
The next morning we woke up and hit the trail to Delicate Arch. I had planned on hiking Delicate Arch late Friday night, but not really knowing the trail, I didn't want to be hiking out of there at night. They say evening is the best time to get photos of the arch, and they're right. The sun will be setting right behind you. We got up there fairly early in the afternoon, but I think the photo turned out okay.
I actually really liked how it converted to B&W, too:
Later that evening we did a sunset river cruise on the Colorado. We piled into a boat and a guide took us out and gave us a little tour of the area. I actually did learn quite a bit, like the location of another arch, some Petroglyphs and a bit about the area, too. The guide was really funny, too, so it was a very enjoyable experience.
Sunset+Red rock+Water=Amazing Photos:
On our last day, we just hung out at the park and took some pictures right off the side of the road of stuff we had ignored the previous days.
The Three Gossips:
Balanced Rock:
The Organ:
Finally, on our way home, we drove the hour or so out of our way to see Dead Horse Point:
In the end, it was a really great trip. Despite having been to Moab many times before, I definitely saw more of the park than I remember ever seeing before. Mushna is starting to get to the point that she really enjoys hiking, too, which made the trip much more enjoyable for both of us. We plan to make our trips to Moab an annual thing. Next time I go, I plan to try to plan some of these hikes for optimal lighting for photos.
I posted most of the photos here, but there are a few others you can view on my Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hypnoeyez99/sets/72157626789781538/
