It’s been awhile since we went to Grand Junction, CO (CO National Monument) and Moab, UT (Arches National Park). Since we had a long weekend, we decided that now was the time to take the trip. We started out with dinner at Chik-fil-A, and then began our drive to Grand Junction, CO.
On Saturday we stopped at Colorado National Monument, where we took a quick hike on the Serpent’s Trail. It was originially the road going into the park, before the modern, paved road was put in.
After the hike, we continued on to Moab, Utah, site of Arches National Park. Saturday afternoon we had the chance to see several of the Arches in the Windows section, as well as Balanced Rock. We also came back into the park at night to watch the stars.
Sunday was our big day of sightseeing; Tony spotted a Golden Eagle by the Devils Garden section of the park. He was perched on a tall rock outcropping; we had the chance to watch him surveying his territory. After a very short hike to see another arch, we decided it was cold so we went back to town for a bit.
By then, it was time to head back into the park, since we wanted to hike up to Delicate Arch that afternoon. After an icy hike near the top of the climb, we had a great view of the arch as the sunset. (Thanks to the kind photographer that took this photo for us!)
Monday morning was our last day in Utah. We drove into the park to see the Devil’s Garden area. We then hiked to see Landscape Arch, and went a little bit farther to see Wall Arch – or at least the remains of it (it collapsed earlier in the year).
One of the highlights of the trip occurred on our way out of the park. We saw a Golden Eagle perched on a sign (and in flight), and we saw a Bald Eagle in flight. Check out more of the trip pictures on the Photo Albums page.
