My alarm rang at 630 am. Plan was to go to the park, see the best arches and come back to the hotel before 11 and check out. I wasn't sure if this was gonna work; hence started early. I drove straight to the Delicate Arch and decided to hike -- the only thing missing from this wonderful trip. There are 2 ways to see the Delicate Arch. a) Drive to the viewpoint and take a look from a distance. As per the National Geographic National Parks book this is disappointing. Hence I went for option b) Hike for more than an hr (roundtrip). Since I was short on time, I kept good pace. I started the hike around 730 am and reached at about 8:05 am. The hike is pretty demanding with it's steep slopes. You don't see the Arch at all during the hike until the very last turn. The view is mesmerizing. I actually liked the part that you need to hike to see Delicate Arch unlike others which you drive to. It's natures toll and there is no EZPASS :) It's so worth it though. I would rate it as one of the best natural attractions I have seen so far. It is gorgeous, huge, tall and handsome. Since it was early in the morning, only a swiss couple was at the Arch. You don't want too many ppl at such a spot and spoil the party. so starting early is a very good idea. Plus it gets extremely hot here later in the day. Asked the couple to take a pic of me posing just to show how huge this arch is. I spent about 30 min taking pics from various angles and then started descending. I was back to the parking lot at about 9 am.
Decided to check out the double arch. This arch used to be a pot hole which got eroded leaving the double arch the way it is now. It's nice but honestly I am biased towards the Delicate Arch. It's just too good. I saw some other attractions such as Windows (natural openings) and turkey arch but none of these come even close the the master piece. I was done at about 10 am and rushed back to the hotel for a shower and check out. The Patel lady called twice in my room to make sure I was done by 11 am. No offence to Gujaratis but I have a question. If you see only 3 letters on a sign board (TEL) and the 1st few letters are hidden, how to you tell if it's PATEL or MOTEL? I uploaded the pics and started towards Bryce canyon.
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Distance 300 miles. Time: 4 hrs 30 min.
I cruised on I70 W to get to Bryce Canyon National Park. I reached at about 5 pm. It's famous for its sunrise and sunset points. Hence I wanted to get there before sunset. I made it well in time. Set up my tent and went for some sightseeing. The hoodoos are beautiful. It's different kind of beauty. Effects of erosion over hundres of thousands of years. I went to sunset point and waited for about an hour to experience the changing colors. Unfortunately, the clouds above spoiled the fun. A couple from Belgium was besides me enjoying the sunset. We spoke a lot about my trip and theirs. I am back in my tent and it's completely dark as I type this under my tent light. I am going to bed now since I need to wake up warly for the sunrise view. Stay tuned.
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