Sunday, December 16, 2018

Windows Section, Arches National Park, October 8, 2018

Yep, way back in October, but I still haven't had time to get these written up. And now I have a new barrier to blogging: CATS! My wife acquired a few youngish kittens, and they have an annoying habit of wanting to walk on my keyboard when I'm typing. Kind of funny: A few days ago, they walked over as I was shutting down. They managed to step on the Windows and L keys, simultaneously, and they locked my keyboard. So a few days later, I'm trying to type in my PIN, and the computer doesn't respond. I didn't know that at the time, of course. All I knew was that the keyboard wasn't taking my PIN.
So I had to get on the Internet on my phone and google stuff like, "Windows 10 keyboard locked," and eventually figured out what they had done. Yeah I'm not entirely literate on a lot of technology, and didn't know Window L would lock the keyboard (and, of course, unlock it).
Speaking of Windows and my phone, these were all phone shots of the Windows section of Arches National Park. It was drizzling to raining the whole morning, and I didn't want to take my real camera out. Besides, that one gets drops on the skylight filter, then everything gets little circles. The phone camera lens is so small, by comparison, that rain doesn't seem to affect the shots.
Started the morning in the Days Inn in Moab. They have (at least as of my visit) a nice, complimentary hot breakfast, much better than than your typical Days Inn/Super 8 level of food. And since checkout wasn't until around noon (as I recall), I ate early, headed into Arches ahead of much of the crowd, and walked the Windows Section, before returning to the room to warm up and shower.

That's nice bonus, since the rooms for even Days Inn/Super 8 level of motels in Moab is really quite high, as in $150 to $200. But they're stupid close to Arches' entrance, and not too far from the entrance to the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands. In retrospect, I might have decided to just burn my Wyndham Rewards points, because that night at Deadhorse Point State Park was really pretty cold.
I parked in the lot for the Windows trail, and walked counterclockwise, past Turret and South and North Windows arches, then around back on the primitive loop, then down to the Double Arch trail and back. Probably about two miles, total.
Those ubiquitous yellow flowers were blooming adjacent to the trailhead for Double Arch. The view of the Cove of Arches was very cool. The soft light of drizzling rain probably helped.
Double Arch, of course, is where Indiana Jones found the Cross of Coronado, in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

Nice and easy start to the day. After getting back to Moab, I packed, then headed into Island in the Sky. The drive and overlooks were, themselves, quite impressive. I also took a short walk overlooking the Shafer Trail, Mesa Arch, and Grand View Point. Hope to get those posted, soon.