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Arches National Park

After a well deserved shower and over night stay at a camp ground we were ready to take on Arches National Park. We started with some coffee at a café in Moab before heading out to the park which is very close to town.

The first target was Delicate Arch which the park is probably most known for. It is a maybe 20-30 min hike to get to the arch, which is not too much but the heat makes it fairly tiring. We had checked the weather which said possible rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon so we did this hike first although the light for photos is better in the afternoon. With some tricks we still got a cool picture.



Next stop was Devils Garden which was a bit longer hike but featured some very nice views, arches and some rock hopping. The trail was a lot more fun here but we ended up in the middle of a sand storm so we had to rush back after half the trail. We met many tourists on their way into the area as we were coming out. Many with their SLR cameras in their hands trying to take pictures in the sand storm. The wind was very strong and you could feel the sand between your teeth. I expect some of them having to bring them in for cleaning afterwards. We had packed ours safely in the camera bag.





White Rim Road – Utah


Almost ten years ago I stood at Grand View overlook in Canyonlands National Park, looking down over Colorado River as it meanders through the canyons. Halfways down I saw a trail following the white rim and I thought that some day I want to drive that road. A few days ago we drove down the Shafer Trail that took us to White Rim Road and exactly where I wanted to go.

The Shafer Trail is a steep trail with a series of switchbacks that takes you down to the white rim level. The trail then takes you along the rim in a very desolate area. There are a few camps along the trail but the number of visitors are limited and it is a quite long and bumpy ride so very few day trippers go that far. We spent two nights on the trail and saw very few people, only as we were entering the area and leaving again. Unfortunately the end part of the trail was blocked due to heavy rain so we could not drive the entire loop but had to go back the same way we came in.

The cool thing about the White Rim Road is the fact that it is isolated and you feel like you are the only people in this moon like landscape. At one spot you can look up to the Island in the Sky and see the tourists at the look out point looking down at you. Otherwise there is no sign of civilization at all. Luckily we brought some extra gas because we would not have made it back on only one tank of gas. And of course the beers we brought were also important. What else is there to do in the afternoon when you have reached your camp and it is still almost 40 degrees… 🙂

Green River at sunset from our second camp site.

The white rim is white sand stone that runs along the canyon. At some spots you can walk out on the rocks and look down towards the river.

After two and a half days of driving mostly 20 mph due to road conditions it was nice to get out on the paved road again. It is fun to drive on this kind of trails but it is usually enough for a few hours. The picture shows an example of what it can look like and although it looks quite smooth it is fairly bumpy.

In this park we saw a few long horn sheep along the way. This one looks particularly cute.

Day hike in Grand Canyon

When visiting Grand Canyon we thought that we can not leave until we have made a proper hike into the canyon itself. Unfortunately we had only one day so we looked around for a suitable hike. Close to the Grand Canyon Village there are three trail heads from where you can hike down into the canyon. There is also a trail along the rim which is about 20 km long, but this was not an option this time. Way to little elevation change, we wanted a good workout.

We chose between one hike along a ridge that looked very cool and a longer hike down to Plateau Point. We decided on the longer hike which we thought was suitable because the weather was still cold. I imagine it being a pain when it is 40 degrees Celsius. The description said it would take 8-12 hours and since we are fairly fit we thought we would make it 8 or even less.


So the day before we stacked up on some Swedish crisp bread, ham, cheese and some snacks. Luckily I had looked at the weather forecast before we left and knew it was going to be cold so we were prepared with hats and gloves and warm jackets. When we got up in the morning the car was frosty and the sun had just began to warm everything up. It was however still around 0 degrees Celsius as we started hiking. The first part of the trail was a little bit icy but we managed to stay on our feet.
At the center of the image you can see Plateau Point which is our goal.

We left the car just before 8 o’clock in the morning which we thought was early enough but there were already lots of people on the trail. A lot of people had spent the night camping in canyon and were hiking up to the rim in the morning. That is now the plan for our next visit.
It was a little bit odd to walk down first, usually we hike up mountains and once you reached the top you know that it will not take longer to walk back. Here it is more difficult to plan the time since you are not sure of how long it will take you to hike up again.
We thought we kept a fairly good pace down, faster than most people and it turned out to be right. We made it there in 2 h 20 min not 3-4 hours that the description said. At Plateau Point you have a marvelous view of the Colorado river and the canyon. We spent almost 1.5 hours at the lookout, having lunch and enjoying the view. The temperature was now about 15 degrees and very pleasant.
Our lunch spot


The view from Plateau Point

Before noon we thought that it was time to start heading back. We were going to drive back to Phoenix in the evening so we did not want to get back too late. We were able to keep the same pace up as down so we made it back up to the rim in 2 h and 10 min. This was supposed to take 5-8 hours. The fitness program we have been doing the past month seem to have had an effect… We came back up much sooner than we thought so we had time to enjoy the view and the sun some more at the rim before we got into the car and drove back home.

Grand Canyon and Grand Canyon

The past weekend we visited Grand Canyon. We went to both the eastern and the western part which will explain the title of the post.
From Las Vegas we took one of these touristy tours which included a flight to the canyon, a visit to the Skywalk and a meal. There is no doubt about it, the Grand Canyon is grand. But if you expect anything else than a canyon at this site you might be disappointed. The scenic flight did not even go over the canyon but just landed on the airstrip on the same side of the canyon that we came from. If you happened to sit on the wrong side of the plane you did not see much of it. From the air strip there are buses taking the tourists to two sites, Eagle Point and Guano Point. At Eagle Point you will find the Skywalk which is a walkway with glass floor built out over the canyon. You walk out and can see the canyon underneath your feet. It is quite cool unless you are afraid of heights in which case I would not recommend it. However I was disappointed that it was not possible to see all the way down to the river on the bottom of the canyon, this point is quite far away from the Skywalk itself.
The Skywalk
Once we had gotten this far we were quite hungry and went in search of food. It was told that Eagle Point would have Asian food and Guano Point some local barbecue type of food. We chose Asian but as it turned out that you had to sit outside to eat we decide to go and have a look at what the barbecue was like. This day it was very cold and windy so anything outdoors did not feel very attractive. Unfortunately, at Guano Point you also had to sit outside to eat but now there was nothing more to choose from. The food resembled something out of a school kitchen in the 80’s, the only thing worth eating was the brownie. I was left very cold and disappointed after this meal.
The view from Guano Point
The only thing that was indoors was the souvenir shop and considering it is very cold in this area for a number of months every year and the rest of it you are in need of air condition, I am surprised they have not built a decent café or restaurant where you can enjoy the view. It looks like there was meant to be more, at least at the Skywalk, but nothing has been completed and the whole place is a construction site. It is amazing considering the amount of tourists visiting this place that they can not make it more enjoyable to visit.
If it wasn’t for the great views of the Canyon I would have asked for a refund.
The next day we drove to the eastern side where Grand Canyon National Park is. It is a fair drive from Las Vegas and we arrived late in the afternoon. As we drove into the Park we still had not seen a glimpse of the Canyon. We parked and followed the signs to the Rim. All of a sudden this impressive canyon was at your feet, almost giving you a dizzy feeling. It is hard to grasp how large it is and how far it might be to the other side. As you stand there you imagine the surprise of the first people finding this canyon and what they thought as they were planning to head straight on.
The view from Yavapai Point

In this area you find several visitor centers, hotels, restaurants, guided tours and well planned walkways and hikes. The walkway along the rim is about 20 km long and there are several places where you can hike down into the canyon. You can even ride a mule down if you do not want the exercise.
The view from Plateau Point halfways down the canyon
On this side the Canyon is more impressive and also the fact that it is nicely build up around it makes it more worth going to this side. For anyone who has the time I highly recommend going here instead of the western side from Las Vegas.

Our first roadtrip in the States – Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park was exactly the change of scenery that we needed. From fancy bars, restaurants and huge yachts to desert, rock and mountains. In two days we did three hikes. All of them were easy, the mountains here are not very high and the trails are easy to walk.

We drove into the park through the southern entrance at Cottonwood Visitor Center. From here we hiked to Lost Palms Oasis which was a very nice hike that featured some cool parts through small canyons, dry river beds and at the end an oasis with palm trees. To reach the oasis you had to walk down a fairly steep canyon. The view was of course much better from the top of the ridge where we stopped for some snacks.

Walking along a ridge to Lost Palms Oasis.

The palm trees at Lost Palms Oasis.

On the way back to the parking lot we climbed Mastodon Peak which was a quite airy peak with lots of boulders you could climb around on. In the background you can see the Salton Sea.

The second day we picked up some breakfast at the local supermarket and drove up to Keys View. The plan was to sit and watch the view while eating. We ended up eating in the car and then went out for 5 min to take some photos. The reason being that it was extremly windy and cold outside. From Keys View you could look towards the south and Palm Springs which is outside the National Park.

At Keys View.

Close to Keys View we hiked the Lost Horse Mine Trail. This is an easy hike which takes you past an old gold mine which is fairly intact. The mine was build in the late 18-hundreds and was in use for almost 4 decades. In total it produced about 280 kg of gold and 450 kg of silver. After visiting the mine we climbed a couple of peaks along the trail which were not really on the map. Just for the fun of it. It was very windy and cold also here so we did not stay for long. At the end the trail seemed to be never ending going through the valleys back to the parking lot. When we came back we had been away for 2-3 hours so it was actually shorter than it seemed.

Joshua Trees.

After a sandwich lunch at Cap Rock (were we found some bolted climbing routes which made us miss our climbing gear) we hiked Ryan Mountain. It was a quite easy hike which did not take more than 30-40 min. This peak is in the center of the western part of the park and from here you have a great view of the whole Joshua Tree National Park.

The view towards north west from Ryan Mountain. On many of the small rocks you can see in the valley there are climbing routes. So next time we will be bringing climbing gear.

On a mini hike in Hidden Valley just before the sun went down. The light was fantastic this time of day. It is at these moments I seriously consider buying an SLR camera.

Joshua Tree is a great place if you like hiking, desert and large boulders. The rock formations you find here are amazing and there are many places to play around among the boulders.

Having fun at White Tank campground.

We found it magical and will be going back. We highly recommend a visit if you have not been here.