Salt Lake City, Arches & Canyonlands National Parks, Denver

April 23-26, 2009
AC739 YYZ-SFO, UA6356 SFO-SLC, UA480 SLC-DEN, UA78 DEN-YYZ

Having done the National Parks in Southern Utah, we were left with the parks in the Northwest.  Arches was our primary destination, but to be honest, Canyonlands was equally as spectacular. We stayed right in Moab in the middle, between the two parks.  After arriving in Salt Lake City late Thursday night, we had beautiful weather on Friday for the drive to Moab.  This gave time for a good visit of Arches that afternoon before heading into town.  To our surprise, we had landed in town in the middle of the "April Action Car Show".  With hot rods running up and down the town’s main street, and the residents sitting on lawn chairs watching the show go by, our Pontiac G6 was not exactly the star of the show.  The next day, we finished Arches and then focused on Canyonlands, while the weather was nice.  We knew there was a storm front coming in midday, so we rushed to see the highlights before the storm and only got a little wet on our last stop.  With the rain came a pretty nasty cold front and the temperature quickly went from spring to winter.  As we drove back to Salt Lake City through the mountain passes, we found some pretty nasty snow.  The city was warmer, but as it was supposed to rain all day on Sunday, we caught an earlier flight to Denver, picked up a car and explored Denver.  As this was my first time out of the airport, this was my first official visit to the state on my quest for all 50, and we actually enjoyed our short visit. 

Apr 23
Fly to Salt Lake City

Apr 24
Drive to Arches National Park and Moab

In Arches from Fiery Furnace looking East to the mountains below

Rock formations outside Sand Dune Arch

More rocks around Sand Dune

Skyline Arch

Delicate Arch from the viewpoint

The Spectacles’ North and South Windows at the end of the day

Apr 24
Arches and Canyonlands National Park and drive back to Salt Lake City

Just before sunrise we hiked out to Landscape Arch for ideal lighting

Although our blue skies disappeared we got an excellent view of Landscape

Waiting for the lighting to improve

Hiking under Double Arch early in the morning before the crowds was very cool

Looking down the main park road through arches

Court House Towers

Three Gossips on our way out of Arches

Mesa Arch, one of the most famous arches in Canyonlands

Looking at the Canyon through Mesa

The Green River from Grand View Point Overlook

More canyons and the Colorado river in the distance

Green River Overlook

Shafer Canyon overlook just before the skies opened up

Our snowy drive back to Salt Lake City

Apr 25
Salt Lake City to Denver

Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver and blue sky!

Horse on a Chair Art in front of the Denver Library

Denver Art Museum

The Denver Skyline from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

After the day in Denver fly home to Toronto