my transparent travel: Hiking Utah's Mighty 5

Leaving the southern rim of the Grand Canyon we headed to Four Corners which is located on a Navajo reservation but it was closed. So we took off for Bluff, Utah. It was a beautiful drive to Bluff meandering through rolling hills with beautiful rock landscapes. Upon arrival we knew we were in a "one house town." But the accommodation was a lovely boutique hotel with only 10 rooms, La Posada Pintada, set in this barren landscape with the "twin rocks" as a background. This was a totally different landscape than where we had just hiked in the Grand Canyon. But this was only a 1 night stay before we headed to Moab, Utah. But we had a fantastic homemade breakfast of quiche, fresh fruits, veggies, teas, juice, breads and coffee. Yum!

Twin Rocks

La Posada Pintada Boutique Hotel

Next we headed to Moab for a 4 night stay to take in Arches National Park. All I can say is wow! It was Memorial Day weekend so we had plenty of company. But the sun was shining and we planned 3 days of hiking in Arches and Canyonlands.

Delicate Arch is a favorite and not an arduous hike but required a little climbing and some ledge work. But just a glimpse of this arch is worth the effort and many families with young children beat us there before 7:00 am. I am thankful for the parks service and dedication to protect such natural beauty and the serenity of this arch.

Delicate Arch

On the hike up to Delicate Arch

Later we hiked to Landscape Arch, Partition Arch, Navajo Arch and Double O Arch. Each one had their own specific beauty. Once again these hikes required some moderate climbing. We continued our hike on Devils Garden on the primitive trail which was very strenuous with some difficult traversing of rock. But my hubs is a great guide. This was a 10 mile hike round trip with beautiful canyon views. Since we are in the desert there was an area at the end of the trail that required walking through sand which is exhausting at the end of a hot day. Still worth it though. Last hike of the day was Tower Arch then we drove to Windows Arch, Turret Arch, and Double Arch. The last three are just a short distance from the road and did not require much hiking. All in all today was 16+ miles of hiking and 42K steps (thank you Fitbit!)