Day 29: After leaving Grand Junction, Colorado, we were within 1000 miles of home. Greg's natural tendency would be to drive straight home and call it a day--well, maybe more than a day--but I wasn't game. In fact, I wanted to stop at Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. It wasn't far off our intended path, and I had never been there before.
I was really taken with the green stone in the hills on the way into Moab.
Closer, you can see the nice stripey pattern!
The drive to Moab gave us a hint of the kinds of rock formations that make up Arches National Park on one side of the road, and Canyonlands on the other.
After getting a motel room, we drove the few miles back out to Arches for an afternoon of driving and hiking among the fantastic spires, columns and towering sheets of sandstone. Here, the Colorado River cuts through the rock.
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| The Organ |
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| The Three Gossips in sillhouette |
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| Balanced Rock (on the left) |
Some formations towered over us, quite near the road...
...while others could be viewed as a panorama. This is a distant view of Windows Arch, with north and south "windows" just visible.
We hiked the one-mile loop trail, which also included Turret Arch.
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| Windows Arch from the trail |
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| Turret Arch |
By the time we finished our hike, the sun was setting. The view on our way back to the car was stunning.
I took so many photos of the beautiful sunset, that we didn't get to the most famous arch, Delicate Arch, until it was too late to make the hike up there.
We made a mad dash up a shorter trail in time to take a picture--still from a distance--in the dark.
But it's amazing what a computer can do. I was shocked to find that the camera picked up so much detail in such poor light, and also that I was able to hold the camera fairly still for the long exposure!
I had a terrible time getting things to work on my blog this week. I used three different browsers to get this much together. Hopefully, I will be able to finish this trip next week as we travel back across Nevada to our Home-Sweet-Home!
Hi Cindy - I liked the 3 Gossips.
ReplyDeleteQ: what software are you using to change that last picture? I have some dim pictures I'd love to see if I could upgrade as beautifully as you've managed.
Hi Ann,
ReplyDeleteI've been using Windows Live Photo Gallery. It came with "Windows Live Essentials," a free download. There is an edit feature that allows you to alter the color, exposure, etc. You can also straighten or crop a picture. Go to "fine tune" for the most control.
Best,
Cindy