April 17-19, 2024

By Tim Briese

Teresa and I went on a weekend getaway to the Moab area to do some hiking and photography. We drove into town on the scenic byway Hwy. 128 along the Colorado River.

the colorado river with the la sal mountains in the distance

That evening we drove up into Arches National Park for some sunset photos.

some views in arches

The next day we drove up to the Island in the Sky and went on a short hike to see scenic Mesa Arch.

mesa arch

an overlook of the shafer trail, a heart-pounding drive that we did not take today

We continued down the road to the end of the Island to Grandview Point.

a view of canyonlands from grandview point

a gnarled pine at another overlook

beauty springing forth from a crack in the sandstone

After returning to town we went on a fun jetboat tour down the Colorado River.

Later in the afternoon we went back into Arches again and did the very popular three mile roundtrip hike to Delicate Arch.

hikers on the route to delicate arch

iconic delicate arch

After this hike we enjoyed another sunset in the park.

The following day we drove down to the Needles District of Canyonlands and did our ever-favorite hike to Chesler Park from the Elephant Hill Trailhead, a six mile roundtrip hike through a fantasyland of slickrock and color that never gets old.

a fun section through some narrows

on the trail to chesler park

an overlook from chesler park

somebody has to hold the rock up!

After this hike we loaded up and headed for home.