Arches and the Ooooohmmm tube

Sunrise at Arches

I awoke somewhat groggily to the early morning light coming in the windows of the green tortoise. Soon our driver Jimmy announced that if we got up now we could climb the nearby rocks in time to greet the dawn and watch the sun rise. sleepily we all piled out of the bus and began scrambling up the rocks trying to find the best vantage point before the sun crested over the horizon.

waiting for sunrise

sunrise

It was in fact a very impressive sight, watching the sun rise over the smoothly rounded rock outcropings. It wasn’t long though before the chilly breeze sent us scrambling back down to the bus in search of hot coffee and breakfast. After breakfast, before it got too hot we headed down the trail to see the arches.

future boy band?

jump

We managed to see most of the major arches including the recently fallen one before returning to the bus and heading towards Goldbar along the Colorado river where we’d be setting up camp for the night. On the way though we made a stop to see a hugh wall of very interesting petroglyphs.

how'd Will get up there?

Petroglyphs

We arrived at the campground amidst a sudden windstorm and even a little rain, but by the time we decided to start fixing dinner it had cleared up enough to enjoy dinner and a sunset over the river. That night Jimmy led us on an excursion to the Ooooohmmm tube and a short hike up to a beautiful pool hidden in a small canyon. Then it was back to the campground to gather around the fire for more marshmellows.