FOUR CORNERS

21 May 2013: Day 7 of 43 – Arches National Park UTAH.
Overnight in Durango COLORADO (State 4).
Today 476km, Total 2,271km. 

Even though Arches National Park next to the town of Moab was our fourth National Park it still managed to be very different from all the others. Huge orange marble boulders weathered in their middle tops to create a hole which then forms the “arch” so characteristic in this park. It is also reminiscent of the Australian Olgas in terms of colour and the landscape of salt scrub. There are over 2,000 catalogued arches between 3 to 306 feet (1-90m) in diameter, which formed over 100 million years from what was originally an inland sea that evaporated leaving a deep salt bed that got eroded to what you see today. 

The area has been home to the Ancestral Indian tribes of Puebloa, Fremont and Ute. It was first settled by Europeans in the late 1800’s. 
The biggest arch is Landscape Arch but the most popular to see are Delicate Arch, Turret Arch and North and South Window Arches. On arrival we headed to Delicate Arch and stopped by a peculiar spot called the Courthouse Towers which features several weathered shapes resembling a judge, bench and jury. Most of the towers and pinnacles throughout the park resemble people or animals or chess pieces. Delicate Arch is a 4.8km uphill hike but viewable from two areas close to the car park – we opted for these. Delicate arch looks like a doughnut and is stuck to an up-sloping marble hill along with other shapes. Turret Arch and North and South Window Arches are located together some 10 miles (16km) away. Gump and Louise walked through Turret Arch and around the Window Arches (2.5km). 

On the way out we stopped by Balanced Rock – aptly for golfing Thelma, looks like a big golf ball on a tee. Our next stop was the very unique “Four Corners”, the only spot in the USA where you can stand on the intersection of four US states: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Quite remarkably there is no other place on earth where four states intersect within a single country, making this place a geographical phenomenon!!! This is also the only place where the famous “dag dance” took place on four states simultaneously – another feat for the record books!!! A local guy asked me what that crazy dance was all about and after explaining it he wished me well with the words “keep dagging”… maybe it will stick! 

There was even a comment made by another onlooker on Thelma’s aboriginal painted baseball caps (all members of Root69 wear one as our official uniform)!!! Four corners itself is actually on a vast Indian reserve shared by the Navajo and Ute peoples. Our overnight stay I Durango was another great experience. Durango is a ski town with cosy wooden buildings in its “old town” section where we enjoyed Japanese cuisine and organic wine. Even Bubba managed a few pieces of Sashimi before taking sanctuary in Teriyaki Beef and rice. Then it was off to Chez Thelma and Louise to consume copious amounts of South American Reserva Cabernet to the chatter of American politics. Thank goodness Colorado is not a dry state!