It's bigger in real life!

Sunrise on the road

We had this beautiful image in mind when planning this trip, one of waking before the sun and experiencing those first rays of light peaking over the horizon from the back window of the campervan while still curled up under the blankets in bed. We got that this morning, watching the pink clouds slowly lighten and greet the day, right under the neon of the Love's Travel Center station and past the green grass of the well-watered dog park. It was just like the images of vanlife you see on Instagram, only a little less perfect and romantic. But it was a beautiful thing, nonetheless, made even better when we started the drive before the sun, and caught those first rays glinting over the canyon walls as we headed towards Arches National Park. In the distance, a lone hot air balloon rose up into the sky, colours reflecting those of the fiery red cliffs below it. We want to get to Arches early because this whole area is a desert, making it very hot and very dry once that fireball of a sun gets overhead. It puts added strain on any hike, and we still want to enjoy the trail and surrounding scenery. We get to the visitor's center and stop just so I can collect my National Park stamps, then we climb up into the park, and to the parking lot for the Delicate Arch hike.

The watercolor artist

This is the image that is synonymous with Utah, having been chosen as the symbol for their license plates and many other public representations. You can visit some easily-accessible view points of the arch from across the canyon, but they are low-down and just not as impressive, and we are fit and able to make the 3-mile trek, so we make a good hearty breakfast in the parking lot, tie up our boots and head out. It's a nice hike, though challenging. Lots of uphill climbing, some on a steeply-sloped rock face, some of it on a narrow ledge curling its way around the canyon wall towards the arch. When we exit the last turn and are faced with the appearance of the arch, we are struck by how BIG it is. Often, natural wonders like these appear bigger than they actually are - a trick of well set-up photographs. Delicate arch is not one of those places - the arch is huge, and we can walk around the eroded bowl-like rock formation right to its base. A line-up of hikers are waiting their turn to pose in the natural rock frame, with the canyon landscape a perfect backdrop behind them. Mario and I find a comfortable spot to sit on the slope and watch the goings-on. Nearby, an elderly woman holds a large board on which is pinned her watercolor of the Delicate Arch, and I watch as she dips her brush into a plastic teacup full of water next to her, and splashes more paint onto her paper. Later, we see her pack up her kit and leisurely walk down the trail ahead of us - she likely makes this trek every day, she looks so at ease with it.

Further down the road into the park, we stop at the trail head for Devil's Garden to have some lunch. The sun is blazing overhead now, and just walking the length of the parking lot is strenuous work. We decide to take a small loop hike to another couple of arches, but really, there are arches all over this park and all you have to do is pull over on the side of the road to see them. Our hike, this time a very easy one, takes us past Landscape, Pine Tree and Tunnel arches. Then we pass Skyline arch on the way out of the park. Sand Dune arch is a particularly interesting one, not for the arch, but the walk in, where a couple of fellow travellers are spreading the word that the hike is all in sand, and that sand is about 10 degrees cooler, and feels incredibly refreshing if walked on barefoot. Always game to try something out, we both take off our shoes and socks and WOW, are they every right! The sand is eroded from the sandstone rock formations, and feels incredibly fine and soft under our feet. The walk is in between large rock "fins" and so in shadow, and so the path leading to the arch is cool on our sore feet, and we honestly feel about 10 times better when we exit the area. What a crazy and welcome suggestion - I spread the word to anyone who will listen as we walk back to the car!

Petroglyphs	Driving to Devil's Garden
Pine Tree Arch	Landscape arch
Skyline Arch	Sand Dune Arch
Walking barefoot to Sand Dune	The Fiery Furnace backcountry area
Driving out of the park

More fantastic sites pass by as we make our way out of the park, each one deserving of a whole book of descriptions and days worth of time exploring them, but we have limited time and want to see it all...

We drive back out of the area and make our way towards nearby Canyonlands National Park. We won't be visiting tonight, instead stopping just shy of the park on more of that great BLM land to camp for the night. It's still early in the evening, so we drive down the tracks into Navajo Rocks Dispersed Camping in the sunlight, and there is no one else here. We have the place all to ourselves. It's so quiet, even the hum of the fridge running sounds deafening. We open all the doors and windows to let a days' worth of hot air escape. I blog while Mario explores the area. We have a spicy Mexican rice bowl for dinner while birds chirp joyful tunes in the nearby trees. And we sleep with all the windows open because it is so comfortable out, and we are the only campers for miles. This is the #vanlife.