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Moab is a short drive from Arches National Park and, as far as I'm concerned, one of the highlights of Utah's NPs, if not the most spectacular park in the Southwest! We left Moab early Sunday morning so we could do some hikes in Arches before the midday sun was at it's hottest.
It's difficult to describe the sheer scale of the park and the unique sandstone rock formations within. Wendy was reading out the geological information from the park's handouts as we went. Basically, the area formed part of a vast seabed which evaporated and left huge deposits of salt millions of years ago. Over time, rocks, debris and sandstone were deposited over the salt. However, salt is an unstable foundation and the weight of the rocks caused it to liquify and buckle and bend the layers of deposits. This, in combination with the fault action in the area, and the extreme erosion due to desert conditions has led to over 2000 arches and many other strange rock formations!
We did a couple of walks and saw the Double Arches, Windows Arch, Sand Arch and Broken Arch. Our lunchtime stop was at the picnic sites - under the dappled shade of a Piñon Pine tree (the sap smells delicious and reminds me of the Native American salve I bought at Monument Valley to treat my sunburnt hands). Afterwards, in the baking sun, we went on separate walks through the Devil's Garden trail. I sat, for a while on a log under the shade of a canyon wall. A French woman passed by later and warned me that they had seen a striped snake under that very same log about an hour before! I guess the snake and I had both had very similar ideas...
Having scorched ourselves in the relentlessly hot sun, we decide to head off towards Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. The drive was long and boring and when we eventually reached the town of Glenwood Springs, it was already 9pm, so we ended up staying at a roadside motel called the Starlight Lodge as we couldn't find a suitable campsite. It is here we had a rather ugly argument after the lights went out (oddly enough, about the lights!). Harsh words were thrown back and forth like opposing teams in a jousting match and I didn't sleep at all well (who would, just before bedtime?).
In the morning, we found a campsite in an RV park way out of town. Still angry from the argument, I decided I wanted some time to myself to do my own thing, so Wendy headed off on a hike to the famous Hanging Lake trail. I walked around town browsing through cute shops and chatting to people. I couldn't help myself and ended up buying more jewellery - this time some beaded necklaces - they're colourful and helped cheer me up tremendously!
I skipped lunch but went for an early dinner at Juicy Luicy's Steakhouse where I had a delectable spinach and pancetta salad accompanied by grilled veggie kebabs with wild rice. Everything was fresh and very well seasoned and prepared. I sat on the rooftop and watched people swimming in the hot baths across the road whilst listening to the musician play some great Monday Blues - very appropriate!
Tonight I went to the Glenwood Hot Springs, for which the town is famous, and swam under the stars. The pools are massive - the largest hot pools I have ever swum in. I think they may even be the biggest in the US - at 405 feet in length and 100 feet width, the large pool contains 91,000 gallons of water! These hot springs were used by the Ute Indians for centuries and called "Yampah", which means "Big Medicine", as they were considered sacred healing waters and used to cure sick people. Even as recently as World War II, the pool was used to rehabilitate emotionally and physically disabled soldiers. They certainly had a restorative effect on me - I felt much more relaxed and less stressed after swimming 20 laps (the width, not the length!).
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