A Cloudy Day in Utah May 9, 2011

I really needed an easy day after covering lots of ground being out and about the last few.  I still woke early but had a hard time getting going.  I could hear the showers outside and there was my motivation to lay low for another hour or so. When I finally did get going, there were a few places I wanted to see and there were enough of these places to fill the day.

I had been down the Potash Road when I did Corona Arch the other day but I didn't take the time to enjoy it then.   Now was the time!  It wasn't busy so I was able to stop and pull over where ever I choose.  The road winds between this rock face and the Colorado River.  On any given nice day, this wall is polluted with climbers as it was when I was here before.

There are many sections of the wall covered in petroglyphs.

This is just a small sampling!

My Arches pass was good for 7 days, so next on my list was to go back into the National Park and explore the areas I missed.   I parked at the Park Avenue Trailhead and strolled along the Avenue.  I was thankful for the chill in the air and the clouds covering the sun for a change.

These yellow flowers were the odd color along the Avenue.  

Sheep Rock

The Three Gossips

A little further down the road after Park Avenue was Balanced Rock which you could see from afar.  It looked securely in place from one angle but looked ready to topple from another view point.

I got an even closer view point and this was close enough for me!

While I was out doing my thing, so was Adventure Designer!  Funny thing, in such a big park with all the people, we ran into each other.  We spent time having fun at Sand Dune Arch.  See the sand at my feet!  Along the way, we made our plan for tomorrow and once that was done we went about doing our own thing again.

She recommended Skyline Arch.  I carried on to check it out.  This is my panorama view of the arch and then I hiked into it for a more intimate encounter.

It took a little scrambling over slickrock to get this close.  

It was now dinner time and I was depleted!  I picked up dinner at the grocery store to take back to my room.  I enjoyed a locally brewed Dead Horse beer while I put together tomorrow's gear, had my dinner, then went to bed and slept for 10 hours straight.