Today we headed back out to Monument Valley to get some more photos and to drive into the actual valley. The sign at the entrance mentioned that most cars should be able to make it with no issue, but I was nervous. Once we made it down the first ramp down into the lower section of the valley, that’s when we first encountered the scraping of the bottom of the car. We tried driving slower to avoid the big holes, but occasionally it sounded like the whole frame of the car was going to come apart.
We arrived at John Ford Point which was the first photo location on the valley tour and took some photos around the area. Using our better judgement, we decided to head back to the entrance and not risk any further unknown holes. Heading back to the entrance was just as precarious and had another couple of terrifying bottom outs, but eventually we made it and after inspection of the Prius, I didn’t see any significant marks or even scratches. It was then time to turn north on the highway and head to Moab and Arches National Park.
We were debating if we wanted to make a quick detour to Natural Bridges National Monument, but looking at the road it looked like there was a scary twisting section and after our experience in Monument Valley we decided to stick to the main road and have more time for Arches. We stopped once just outside of Monument Valley for the famous “Forrest Gump” and Doctor Who vista of the empty road with the buttes in the background. After a quick pit stop in Blanding we headed to Arches National Park.
Thankfully because it was a Tuesday, there wasn’t much of a crowd to get into the park and we headed towards the back of the park and the Devil’s Garden Trailhead. This was a pretty easy hike to go see one of the main attractions, Landscape Arch. The weather was warm but we had hats and water and we made good time. After we headed towards the Delicate Arch trailheads. We didn’t have the energy or the time to do the full hike to Delicate Arch so we will have to save that for another trip. We did hike the Delicate Arch viewpoint trail and that allowed us with some zooming some great views of the Arch.
Our last stop in the park was at Double Arch and the Windows area. We started out at Double Arch and Daniel and I made our way up to the Arch and actually managed to make it up the climbing trail to sit in the section between the Arches. It was spectacular and not that difficult of a hike and I was glad we did it. Daniel’s mom remained at the base and waited for us to return and was relieved we made it back in one piece.
We moved over to the Windows section where we walked around the Loop Trail. The sun was getting lower in the sky and we arrived just as the sunset was hitting the rocks and it looked amazing. We got some great photos of the area before deciding to call it a day. It was a long day so it was time to head back to the hotel and grab dinner. We found an actual Pizza Hut Restaurant in Moab and the pizza was great.
Time to head to bead. Tomorrow is our longest drive and we have a full schedule!
