Day 24 Utah to Arizona

We got up at 5am in the dark to attempt to catch the sunrise on the Delicate Arch trail. We packed up camp ate breakfast and headed that way. Unfortunately by the time we made it to the trailhead the sun was already coming up and we were standing behind a peak that we had to hike a mile and a half to get over. Oh well. The hike was uphill and strenuous but when we got to the top we had spectacular views down into the canyon and of the delicate arch. Luckily there were more peaks in the distance and the sun was just shinning around them so we got some amazing pictures. After we hiked back from that trail we did two more hikes to see the window arches, double arch, and terret arch. When we include last nights hikes we completed over 10 miles in a 16 hour period. After three weeks of mostly sitting in a car we were happy with that. We really enjoyed our time in Arches National Park and would love to go back. Next we drove towards Arizona and took the scenic route through the Navajo Nation Reserve. We got to see many more amazing rock towers and wonder at Gods creation. Unfortunately at this time we also encountered a rainstorm that kept going for the next two hours as we headed to the Grand Canyon. We were starting to wonder if we were going to just get a quick look and continue the four hours to my grandma’s house or instead camp there in the rain. When we arrived we were very pleased to see the rain stop but they also had 90% humidity so there was fog everywhere. The first lookout we stopped at you could see nothing but fog. But luckily it thinned as we went further into the park and we got some amazing views. You can walk out to the edge of the cliff and stand on small rock ledges that pictures do not even begin to show the severity of the drop. The first time Joshua and I went out we looked over the edge of the rock point we were standing on… keep in mind this is venturing past the lookout onto little cliffs….. and we were both shocked by the magnitude of the drop and our adrenaline kicked in. We really had no business standing on a tiny rock on the edge of a canyon that dropped over a mile (600 stories). We were a bit more cautious after that. Next we set up camp, showered and went back to the rim to watch the sunset. Glorious day!