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I started and ended the day with two very different three mile hikes. But before we get to that I must thank water, Mormons, and online dating.


I awoke to red stone canyon walls carved by ocean and rivers thousands of years ago. I then walked to the u-pick fruit orchard, grabbed a hook, and scooped my apricot breakfast from the tree. If it were not for the Mormons who had settle here and planted the orchards I would not have has apricots fresh from the tree and the people who come in the next weeks would not have peaches, apples, or pears. So thank you Mormons.


I then took a rather strenuous hike through a canyon to get a view of these orchards. The hike would not have been so bad if it weren’t so dang hot and sunny in the desert. Who knew. The view wasn’t that special but the hike up, along, and through this red rock was beautiful.


After the hike I did the seven mile scenic drive of the park, drove through some other canyons, stopped for another apricot, and went to check out the store. Now is the time to thank online dating. If the Scottish man never had internet he would not have met his wife and moved to middle of nowhere Utah to bake delicious Scottish scones (which are like amazingly soft, moist biscuits) and sell them in the museum store at Capitol Reef National Park. So thank you online dating.


The park being so small allowed me to leave and arrive at Arches National Park with plenty of time to relax. However, the campsite was full so I did the scenic driving tour the park, saw THE COOLEST natural show involving a dust devil and hat, and scoped out my hike. Now I must thank water. If I learned anything from the informational video at the Visitor Center is that all of Utah’s parks were created by water. Although scarce in those parts, its important. Wow. I also learned that the canyons and arches are forever changing. So… see it while you can. This helped me choose my hike. Who knows how long Delicate Arch will be there so I had to go touch it. Made the beautiful hike right before sunset, met some Deaf people, walked around, then headed down.


Not too shabby for one day, but, I wasn’t tired and it was too hot to sleep. Therefore, I drove through the town of Moab then started driving to Colorado to sleep. It wasn’t so easy in the heat.