Belle rocce

The trail took us from Monument Valley - where we stayed for expensive but great views - deeper into beautiful, barren and usually dry Utah.

After a cool night it got warmer and warmer and it was over 30° for the first time at noon. Compared to the current Austrian temperatures, the desert weather is almost Nordic 😉.

Today's destination is Arches National Park, known for its beautiful rock formations and especially stone arches. There should be over 300 pieces from small to huge.

But after we get up to speed quite slowly in the morning and then regularly get bogged down when we see something interesting, this time we ended up with the Mormons. At first we didn't recognize it and thought it was an exhibition about "Western Time". But after a film about the adventurous settlement of an oasis on the Colorado River by Mormon settlers, it was clear.

The exhibition was nicely prepared, the people very courteous, and the food and drinks were cheaper than in the supermarket. We bought the first ice cream of the trip because it was only $2.5 (usually around $6), it was huge and it tasted really good. Now we are Mormon fans.

We continued for tens of miles on lonely country roads, sometimes with beautiful surroundings, sometimes rather desolate, until we arrived at the Arches NP visitor center around 4:00 p.m. And almost as announced, it was raining again when we showed up somewhere. Temperatures dropped from well over 30° to 19°. However, the rain and strong wind soon cleared.

At an optimal 21° and fresh, clear air, we then explored the area. Lots of rock but very beautiful and impressive. Constantine was even able to build a small dam. Hungry and tired from the hikes, we still needed a place to sleep.

After we hadn't booked a campsite (like most of the time) - the state ones in the NPs are booked out months in advance anyway - we were lucky. We were allowed to stand on a campsite and only paid $52 for the night instead of $90. Grill, Eat Sleep. Good night.