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Arches & Canyonlands picspam
We were camped only a few miles away from Arches National Park. One of the most beautiful parks I've seen - the view changes around every corner you take; the variety of the geological formations seems to be infinite. The photos can't really show the sheer scale so, you know, imagine all of this is BIG.
This one reminded me of the alien monster in some movie, was it Galaxy Quest...
And we thought we needed something to show the dimensions here, so...
These little stone columns are called cairns. Recently they've come to be used to mark trails. They have been helpful more than once in finding the trail when we were unsure.
A cairn garden. I like the contrast of the little sculptures set against the background of Arches' rock formations.
We made one, too.
I just thought this was pretty: footprints. Maybe I'll try to make some art with it.
We spent much of the afternoon heat in a sweet little canyon, with a hiking trail along the most perfect little creek.
...complete with deeper pools to cool off in.
I'm standing right on the trail here.
happy camper
The area had the most perfect boulders one could ask for and I did a bit of bouldering but not nearly as much as I would've liked... We were very high up, there wasn't enough oxygen in the air for this flatland-dweller, and the heat didn't help. The first day my climbing shoes actually melted. Just a bit. And Cyn burned her hands on the rock. Still, I bouldered little spots here and there. The red sandstone has a mad grip, you can do moves that would never work on the plastic at the indoor wall.
Speaking of the heat... these are Cyn's feet. And, matching, her sandals.
Once we found out about it we got our drinking water from this spring, filtered through a couple hundred feet of sandstone.
We went rafting and rock climbing with the Red River Adventure Company in Moab, who I can't recommend enough. They made us a very fair price, and both experiences were great fun.
This is us
and this
This is not us. Our guide pointed this particular eddy out to us while he took great care steering us past it at a safe distance.
That group all rented rafts without guides and talked through the entire safety lecture.
We viewed the entire sequence of this drama but all the subsequent pictures were actually too scary... this could have ended very badly. Fortunately everybody made it out of there alive. One of them got sucked under the raft twice though; luckily the one girl remaining inside could finally haul her back in. And then their raft was stuck on top of the eddy for about two minutes, with their paddles gone, until the river finally had enough and let them go. So, yeah, apparently even a 2-3 class river is not to be messed with.
We made a day trip to see Canyonlands, which was pretty spectacular though not as beautiful or versatile as Arches.
Quick detour via Mesa Verda with its Anasazi cliff dwellings
Here's a close-up of the famous Cliff Palace. Funnily, both Cyn and I had to draw it as part of an illustration job recently and wanted to see it.
And north from Durango to Gunnison on one of the most scenic highways. Colorado is very beautiful and I want to go back there and spend some time. Also, they have zip lines set up all over the place!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the youngest National Park. We got a backcountry permit to hike down to the bottom. The trail we picked was the easiest one, but it was... plenty.
We assumed this was one of the harder section of the trail... we were wrong. From then on down it was all loose rock and loose sand and loose gravel. I figured going up was going to be easier but it was two steps up, one step sliding down. It was interesting fer sure. ;)
But this was the view waiting at the end of the trail
I didn't count the breaks we took getting back up. A LOT. But we made it. \o/
We saw wildlife, alas no bighorn sheep, even there were warning signs everywhere. Fortunately we didn't encounter any bears, either.
But there were deer all over the campground
A photogenic raven
Prairie dog
A frog in our creek
pretty lizard
Crayfish. There was one under nearly every rock in that little creek. And when you sat down they'd try to pinch you with their little claws.
Me and my trusty air matress, purchased for 15 bucks.
I expected it to lose air after the first day but it served me well.
It was born out of necessity and lack of tent space but I got used to sleeping under the stars... last night at home I slept with both windows wide open.
Finally, a few more photos of Arches during sunset...
On my way home I stayed in Atlanta for two nights, since all I'd ever seen of the city was the airport and I kinda wanted to see what the rest is like. Turns out, Atlanta is awesome! Everybody was friendly and helpful (especially in contrast to Denver's drivers, just saying), the weather was perfect and not at all oppressive, and the hostel was lovely... (tip: Atlanta Hostel, 223 Ponce de Leon - relaxed atmosphere, very clean and safe, 1A location, friendly owner. They even have a pool table in the living room but we didn't get around to playing.)
I squeezed a bunch of sightseeing into my one full day there... I saw the Cyclorama (A huge 360° wall oil painting-with-diorama that tells the story of the battle of Atlanta), the zoo, the World of Coca Cola, and the botanical garden.
little panda
big panda
I even got into the botanical garden for free somehow, which was extra awesome since I spent a small fortune on the other three things. It was worth it though. I mean, the zoo was good but not a must-see, but the Cyclorama and the World of Coke were a ton of fun.
Some pretty clever marketing they got going there. My favorite part just might've been the tasting section, where you can taste as much soda from all over the world as you like... not just various versions of cola, but stuff like Melon or pineapple soda from African countries. I left the place on a sugar high and in a very good mood.:)
The only downside is that days later I still have that Coca Cola song pop into my head...
preview:
This one reminded me of the alien monster in some movie, was it Galaxy Quest...
And we thought we needed something to show the dimensions here, so...
These little stone columns are called cairns. Recently they've come to be used to mark trails. They have been helpful more than once in finding the trail when we were unsure.
A cairn garden. I like the contrast of the little sculptures set against the background of Arches' rock formations.
We made one, too.
I just thought this was pretty: footprints. Maybe I'll try to make some art with it.
We spent much of the afternoon heat in a sweet little canyon, with a hiking trail along the most perfect little creek.
...complete with deeper pools to cool off in.
I'm standing right on the trail here.
happy camper
The area had the most perfect boulders one could ask for and I did a bit of bouldering but not nearly as much as I would've liked... We were very high up, there wasn't enough oxygen in the air for this flatland-dweller, and the heat didn't help. The first day my climbing shoes actually melted. Just a bit. And Cyn burned her hands on the rock. Still, I bouldered little spots here and there. The red sandstone has a mad grip, you can do moves that would never work on the plastic at the indoor wall.
Speaking of the heat... these are Cyn's feet. And, matching, her sandals.
Once we found out about it we got our drinking water from this spring, filtered through a couple hundred feet of sandstone.
We went rafting and rock climbing with the Red River Adventure Company in Moab, who I can't recommend enough. They made us a very fair price, and both experiences were great fun.
This is us
and this
This is not us. Our guide pointed this particular eddy out to us while he took great care steering us past it at a safe distance.
That group all rented rafts without guides and talked through the entire safety lecture.
We viewed the entire sequence of this drama but all the subsequent pictures were actually too scary... this could have ended very badly. Fortunately everybody made it out of there alive. One of them got sucked under the raft twice though; luckily the one girl remaining inside could finally haul her back in. And then their raft was stuck on top of the eddy for about two minutes, with their paddles gone, until the river finally had enough and let them go. So, yeah, apparently even a 2-3 class river is not to be messed with.
We made a day trip to see Canyonlands, which was pretty spectacular though not as beautiful or versatile as Arches.
Quick detour via Mesa Verda with its Anasazi cliff dwellings
Here's a close-up of the famous Cliff Palace. Funnily, both Cyn and I had to draw it as part of an illustration job recently and wanted to see it.
And north from Durango to Gunnison on one of the most scenic highways. Colorado is very beautiful and I want to go back there and spend some time. Also, they have zip lines set up all over the place!
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the youngest National Park. We got a backcountry permit to hike down to the bottom. The trail we picked was the easiest one, but it was... plenty.
We assumed this was one of the harder section of the trail... we were wrong. From then on down it was all loose rock and loose sand and loose gravel. I figured going up was going to be easier but it was two steps up, one step sliding down. It was interesting fer sure. ;)
But this was the view waiting at the end of the trail
I didn't count the breaks we took getting back up. A LOT. But we made it. \o/
We saw wildlife, alas no bighorn sheep, even there were warning signs everywhere. Fortunately we didn't encounter any bears, either.
But there were deer all over the campground
A photogenic raven
Prairie dog
A frog in our creek
pretty lizard
Crayfish. There was one under nearly every rock in that little creek. And when you sat down they'd try to pinch you with their little claws.
Me and my trusty air matress, purchased for 15 bucks.
I expected it to lose air after the first day but it served me well.
It was born out of necessity and lack of tent space but I got used to sleeping under the stars... last night at home I slept with both windows wide open.
Finally, a few more photos of Arches during sunset...
On my way home I stayed in Atlanta for two nights, since all I'd ever seen of the city was the airport and I kinda wanted to see what the rest is like. Turns out, Atlanta is awesome! Everybody was friendly and helpful (especially in contrast to Denver's drivers, just saying), the weather was perfect and not at all oppressive, and the hostel was lovely... (tip: Atlanta Hostel, 223 Ponce de Leon - relaxed atmosphere, very clean and safe, 1A location, friendly owner. They even have a pool table in the living room but we didn't get around to playing.)
I squeezed a bunch of sightseeing into my one full day there... I saw the Cyclorama (A huge 360° wall oil painting-with-diorama that tells the story of the battle of Atlanta), the zoo, the World of Coca Cola, and the botanical garden.
little panda
big panda
I even got into the botanical garden for free somehow, which was extra awesome since I spent a small fortune on the other three things. It was worth it though. I mean, the zoo was good but not a must-see, but the Cyclorama and the World of Coke were a ton of fun.
Some pretty clever marketing they got going there. My favorite part just might've been the tasting section, where you can taste as much soda from all over the world as you like... not just various versions of cola, but stuff like Melon or pineapple soda from African countries. I left the place on a sugar high and in a very good mood.:)
The only downside is that days later I still have that Coca Cola song pop into my head...
preview: