Arches National Park

Next stop was a half-day tour in the famous Arches National Park. The forecast was for cooler weather with a high of only +39C, so I decided to weat long pants to keep warm.

The hike up to the iconic Delicate Arch was only about 5 km round-trip, but in the oppressive desert heat an no shade, it felt like much more. Still the arch itself lives up to its reputation:

(I'm in that photo if you look closely.)

We then did a driving tour of all the other attractions that were within a few dozen meters of the parking lots. (Get out of the car, take a picture, run back to the car, blast air conditioning, repeat.) Our final stop was another icon: Balanced Rock.

Word to the wise: if you're lazy like us (read: don't want to hike very far) you can comfortably do Arches in less than half a day.

(July 2, 2013)