Day 2: Bryce Canyon to Arches National Park

Today saw us head out on route 12 from Bryce Canyon National Park. Our first stop was only a few miles down the road where we took a brief detour to the Kodachrome Basin State Park before heading on to Escalante to take in the sights of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument*.

This was one of the last areas of the USA to be mapped due to the remote and rugged terrain and the road we drove between Escalante and Boulder was not completed until the 1940s. Prior to this mail was brought in by mules. The views across the plateau are truly breathtaking.

Today has been a day away from the Interstate routes driving through some of the most beautiful canyon country. Our final destination of Arches National Park truly topped everything we have seen so far. The eroded red sandstone structures are truly awe inspiring to one more used to Britain's more conservative geography and geology.


Courthouse Towers


3,500 tons of Balanced Rock


North & South Windows

This evening we are staying in Moab which is positively cosmopolitan after yesterday's stop in Tropic where we were informed that the resident horse had left in search of adventure.
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* one of the wildlife highlights of the day was Humming Birds at Escalante. They were charming but I have decreed that my holiday will not be complete until I see a Mountain Lion and a Bear in death duel over the corpse of a Buffalo.

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