Arches & Canyonlands NPs / Salt Lake City

5 July There were a few fireworks last night. We went to a little café in the camp for breakfast (pancakes and bacon) before heading up into the Colorado National Monument. This involved a steep climb up to the rim of several canyons overlooking the Grand Junction Valley. We followed a 23 mile scenic drive with a few walks out to view points. The stone columns (monuments) were very impressive. On the way back to our RV Park we stopped to pick a few supplies including a 12v fan. The temperatures at night are getting hotter! Another cooling time at the pool.

6 July

We headed west along the I 70 out of Colorado and into Utah again.

We turned off the interstate and drove down to Moab. We are quite close to the area we were in 3 weeks ago but needed to see the Arches National Park and the Canyonlands National Park. We drove thru Moab (a tourist town) and out to the Sand Flats Recreational Area. We are back in the desert. This area is famous for the Slickrock Mountain Bike Trails. It is dominated by huge rocks a bit like mini

versions of Ayers Rock jutting out of the desert. The mountain biking was a bit extreme for us so we settled for a climb up the nearest rocks and watched a great sunset.

7 July
Up early to head to Arches N.P. only to be told that the camping ground (18 miles into the park) was full. We headed in anyway as we could park and spend the day doing some walks. On arriving at the camp the ranger luckily found us a cancellation. Great! We had breakfast and headed off for a longish hike. The N.P. is well named as the whole area is red sandstone in which wind and water have created

a series of columns and natural arches. Our hike was an 8 mile loop passing many of the arches including the longest in the world, Landscape Arch and Navajo, Double O, Private, Pine Tree, and Tunnel Arches. They were all different and very spectacular. Most of them you could get right under. It was very hot (around 38C) and much of the hike was in soft sand, so we were pretty tired when we returned to “Ernie” and his great awning shade. The ranger came around in the evening and offered us another cancelled site for tomorrow. The National Park booking system is hopeless!!
8 July
After marking our new site we set off in “Ernie” for the trail heads for another 2 hikes.

The first was the to “famous” Delicate Arch. It was only a 2 mile hike and the Arch is not seen until the last minute as you round a bend. What a sight!! How it does not fall down is a mystery. Back to “Ernie” and another drive to the trail

head for the Windows Arches and Double Arch. Still more amazing formations. We stopped at a view point for lunch on our way back to the camp. I cut Val’s hair after we returned and cooled off. The fan helped us get to sleep as it was a warm night.

9 July

We left Arches National Park and decided to “shout” ourselves a night in Moab at an RV Park ($44US). This is our dearest accommodation yet but it could be the norm later. It is good to run the aircon when we are on power. There is a nice pool here which we enjoyed for a couple of hours. At around 7:00pm when it cooled slightly, we hopped on the bikes and rode the 3 miles back into Moab mostly along a cycleway. We wandered the tourist shops and came to several lively bars. We had a beaut BLT and a burger washed down with a pitcher of Coors beer before riding back to “Ernie” in the fading light. A party near us was in full swing but we were surprised when, at the end of the night, the ladies sang a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful” bringing a great round of applause. It is hard for us to appreciate the extreme patriotism of these people.

10 July

We left Moab and drove to the Canyonlands National Park.

The camping ground is very small and we were surprised to easily find a site. We drove to a couple of trail heads for a look at this quite different series of canyons. The first overlook and trail was at White Rim. Instead of looking down into a single canyon this area has 2 canyons The first canyon drops 2000ft to a white rimmed plateau (looked a bit like icing sugar) and then into a deeper second canyon

with the Colorado River below. Unfortunately the forest fires have produced a haze making photos not as good. The second trail, 12 miles drive away, was to an area where a meteorite had created a huge crater with greenish material at the bottom. We drove back to our camp for a cool off in the shade. In the evening we walked to a close view point with spectacular views of the Green River at the bottom of the canyon.

11 July
After a short walk to Mesa Arch we left the National Park and drove 70 miles (mostly on the interstate) north/west to Green River. It was a boring drive across some very dusty desert. We are in a State Park on the banks of the river with a golf course around us. Quite a surprise! We walked a few holes of the 9 hole course. It was in great condition with water in play on several holes. A strong wind chased us inside where we enjoyed the cool of the aircon, dinner and a movie.
12 July
Back on the interstate but a much nicer drive than yesterday thru some red rock formations. We were within 20 miles of Goblin Valley State Park which we visited over 3 weeks ago. We have travelled in a huge circle thru Utah and Colorado. There are 5 great National Parks in Utah (Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Arches and Canyonlands). Most travellers do them one after the other. We have had the luxury of visiting the first three and then having a 3 week break in the Colorado Rockies before the last two. We are on our way north to Salt Lake City with 2 planned stops. The State Park we had decided would be the first stop was closed as there is a triathlon there this weekend. We had to continue north up into the Wasatch Mountains where we have found another State Park at Scofield Lake. There are families camped here plus some baches which remind us of Lake Clearwater. The day has been much cooler with a few spots of rain.
13 July

We followed a great sweeping highway down a canyon and eventually joined the I15. It was then only a short drive to the Lake Utah State Park. There was a marina, two boat harbours

and several boat ramps. As it was Saturday there were many people sailing, boating, jet skiing and swimming. The water looked a bit dirty and not very inviting. We rode our bikes around both harbours. Around dinner time a strong wind off the lake drove us inside.
14 July
Back on the I15 for the 45mile drive into Salt Lake City. The population is only 185,000 but at times the freeway was 12 lanes wide. There is also a brand new light rail

system. Huge infrastructure for the population. Our camp is close to the centre of the city, reflected in the price ($47US). There is a free shuttle from the camp into Temple Square. This is the headquarters of the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints abbreviated to LDS) The shuttle is sponsored by the church. We walked thru the 35 acres of beautiful gardens with the temple, tabernacle, and various museums and visitor centres. There are volunteers from the church everywhere welcoming you and answering questions. We had a quick look around but will return tomorrow for a more in depth look. Back at the camp we enjoyed the crowded pool as it is hot.



15 July

 The free shuttle took us back into the Temple Square. We started by going into the Family History building. We were met at the door and directed to one of the 3 floors of computers.(100s of them!) The floors are for the Americas, Europe and Asia, and Britain, Aussie and NZ. A lady welcomed us and helped us do a search for my great grandfather who came out from Scotland. We learned quite a lot and will research it more when we get home. Our next stop was the Tabernacle. This is an impressive auditorium with fantastic acoustics. The Mormon Choir sings here. We listened to a ½ hr organ recital. The organ is huge and has over 11,000 pipes. We were allowed access to most of the buildings except the Temple. This was built shortly after the arrival of the Mormons.

It is based on 6 towers and is all made of granite. There is a model of the Temple including the interior, in one of the visitor’s centres. Unlike a conventional church the interior of the Temple is divided up into a series of smaller areas. All very weird. We left Temple Square and crossed the road into down town Salt Lake City. There is a new large pedestrian mall area with restaurants, shops and seating. We had a nice lunch before heading back to Temple Square and the Convention Centre. We were met at the door and escorted into the main auditorium. It seats 21,000!!! It is the largest in the USA. Next we were shown various religious paintings, some biblical and some relating to the Mormon stuff. Our escort gave us a brief rundown of the principles of the church. It was not a hard sell and was interesting if not a bit weird and that’s being kind!

Many of the volunteers had been to NZ as missionaries. The LDS office building is 26 stories high and we enjoyed views all around city including the State Capital Building (a mini White House), the Lake, and the Wasatch Mountains. The 2002 Winter Olympics were held here. All in all it was a fascinating day but they did not get any converts from us. Back to camp for a couple of swims.