Friday, April 29, 2011

Spring Break 2011

We thought we would take advantage of the cool weather during spring break to head to southern Utah where it is too hot during the summer. We ended up visiting Dead Horse Point, Canyonlands, Arches, and Mesa Verde. It's pretty cool that we have so many spectacular sites within easy driving distance and that we could do all of this in a few short days.



Dead Horse Point State Park


Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park


Another view of Mesa Arch


The wind storm that blew up while we were in Canyonlands.



Our first day of spring break was spent camping in dead horse state park. We caught some great views there as well as at Canyonlands National Park where we hiked to Mesa Arch. While we were out sightseeing a big wind storm blew in and knocked our tent down. Not much damage done and we were able to put it back up before it got dark and had a nice first night.


Dead Horse Point at Sunrise.


We camped our first night in Dead Horse Point State Park and Troy got up early and got a few shots at sunrise. Delicate Arch on a beautiful cool day.


A great shot of Delicate Arch.


Resting before the 3 mile hike back to the car.


We hadn't planned to visit Arches, but it was such a beautiful day and we decided that since it was free we would make a quick visit before we left for Mesa Verde. We ended up spending longer than we planned mostly due to the hike we took to Delicate Arch. It was worth it.



The Spruce Tree House at Mesa Verde National Park.


The Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde.


We finished up our trip at Mesa Verde in Colorado. We had planned to camp but the campground was not open till mid May but fortunatly the lodge had available space and we got a relativly good deal. It was nice to have a warm room and a shower so I think it was worth it.