Park Avenue Hike - Arches National Park

Hi all, Dianne here.  This will be a short post describing our last hike in the Moab area.  There was one last hike we wanted to take in Arches National Park and, once again, it proved to be different from all of the other hikes we've done this trip.

The trail is named for the tall fins that line both sides of the canyon, and it really did give the impression of being in a city of skyscrapers.

The most interesting part of this short hike, for me, was the interesting swirl patterns in the dry creek bed that made up much of the trail surface.  Here are a few more interesting patterns:

For the first time in the two months we've been in Utah, we had threatening clouds as we hiked. 

 The clouds kept the temperature to a comfortable low 80s as we hiked that morning -- perfect!   

Here's a photo Roger took of me sitting on a rock with another swirly pattern on the creek bed.

Now, here's a better photo of the rock I was sitting on.  Don't you think it looks like a huge smiling frog, or something out of a Star Trek movie?

The trail was pretty easy, except that the first section involved a long staircase down to the bottom.  Of course, that meant the return trip involved a long staircase back up to the top!  I stopped midway to take a photo up...


And a photo down...

Just enough exercise for a good morning walk!  Two miles round trip.  We originally intended to stop in Moab on the way back to have lunch.  Turns out, we were done with the hike by 9:30.  It was spitting rain, so we decided on a second breakfast instead.  Our first breakfast that morning was a "breakfast cookie," the recipe for which I learned from Laurie & Odel's blog, Semi-True Tales of our Life on the Road.  Here's a direct link to the recipe:  Vegan Breakfast Cookie Recipe.  I substituted dried cherries for the raisins and used honey instead of Agave syrup.  (I also added salt, but don't tell Laurie!)  I made a batch of these cookies a couple of weeks ago and froze most of them.  They have been very handy to grab and go on these early morning hikes we've taken in Moab.

We decided to try the Peace Tree restaurant to take advantage of their outdoor seating, since it was uncharacteristically pleasant (meaning not like being in a blast furnace).  Roger highly recommends their huevos rancheros.  We enjoyed sitting outside, sipping coffee, and watching the rain as we ate.  


We've decided to pack it up and head out a day early.  We're ready for a change of scene.  Even though we've already paid for tomorrow night here in Moab, we will justify our move by stopping overnight at a winery outside of Olathe, Colorado.  We can park there free of charge through the Harvest Hosts program that we belong to.  Stay tuned for that!

The pet photo of the day shows Tequila helping me edit Roger's Potash Road Surprises blog post.  Love those eyes!