Longbow Arch

Earlier in the day on Dec. 3 we had stopped at a short trail called Dinosaur Tracks.  It was so underwhelming that I am not even going to show you a single photo of it.  Really, it was that much of a letdown.  However, that trail is also the trailhead for the Longbow Arch trail.  We decided to come back and try that one later in the day if we had the time, and we did.

Here's looking back as we head up the trail, we get a view of the mountains on the other side of the Colorado River:

There are some petroglypths along the way:

Heading up the trail, there is a bit of a climb at first:

Looking back at Ed as he follows me up:

The back of this starter arch had some neat little mini-cairns that people had built inside the eroded holes:

More pics as we headed along the trail:

Coming up to the arch, it's at the upper right hand side of the photo:

On the way back, I found this little cactus living in a small pothole:

More dramatic landscape as we walked on the trail back.  You can see a jeep trail in both of the photos below.  Too bad it's overcast ...

... but wait!  Just as we approach the place where we descend back into the valley, the sun pokes out from behind the clouds.  We ran along this ridge to get a look at the mountains lit up in the late day golden light across the river:

It had been a windy day, and as we drove back into Moab there was dust blowing over the road:

Coming up from Dec. 4, more arches in the Devil's Garden sector of Arches National Park.