USA - The West April 2012 Arches National Park

 Day 9 - Last Day

Entrance into The Arch National Park

 This was our last day for this wonderful trip. As there are many attractions in Utah, we have no choice but to choose only one as we need to get back to Denver latest by the night. Having to spare all the canyons for future visit, we proceeded to the Arches National Park where you will find natural rock formations of contrasting colors in the form of arches, pinnacles. Massive fins as well as balanced rock. 

The Park Avenue & Courthouse Towers

 

The Park Avenue

 

 Located about 5 miles north of Moab, Utah we were amazed with the landscape and sheer size of the rocks. To really appreciate the beauty of this park, you have to hike along the trails for the best photo opportunity as some of the great vistas can only be reached by walking. To cover the whole park will take you a few days…..

The Delicate Arch

The Delicate Arch

 

Among the must-see attractions here are the Delicate Arch, Park Avenue and Balance Rock but to reach the Delicate Arch would require a 3 km hike up the hill. We just went to the other side of the arch and viewed it from below as everybody was too tired to do any exercise. This place is really a heaven for photography enthusiasts.  

The Balanced Rock

After spending enough time in the park, we proceeded back to Denver which is over 350 miles away from Moab. Feeling really exhausted, all of us were very satisfied with all the visits and attractions that we visited. This 9 day trip covering a total distance of over 2,500 miles was really a tiring yet very memorable one….

USA - THe West April 2012 Bonneville Salt Flats

Day 8

After an early breakfast, we packed our belongings and checked-out from our apartment in Gardiner Montana, heading ourselves towards Utah. Even though we managed to cover the key attractions in the Yellowstone National Park, there are always reasons why we need to go back here in future to complete the must-see & do list in this wonderful park.

Towering mountains surrounding Salt Lake City...

We continued our journey via Interstate 15 towards Salt Lake City. The view of towering snow-capped mountains surrounding the city becomes the backdrop of this beautiful city which once hosted the Winter Olympic Game back in year 2002. We did not want to miss the opportunity and make a De-tour to the Salt Lake City Olympic Village. This venue now has been the home for the training camp for US Olympic team.

Utah Olympic Park, Salt Lake City.

We then proceeded to another major attraction in Utah, the Bonneville Salt Flats. This extra-ordinary tourist attraction features a 30,000 acres of hard, white salt crust on the western edge of Great Salt Lake basin. Approximately 12 miles long and 5 miles wide, this area covers an area just above 46 square miles. This area is very flat that you can see the curvature of the earth when you look into the horizon . Bonneville Salt Flats also the venue where most of the worlds land speed records that has been achieved took place. 

Bonneville Salt Flats

 

Salt consist of 90% common table salt....

 

USA - The West April 2012 Yellowstone National Park Part 5

Day 7 - continued

The Upper Geyser Basin

This is one of the most interesting features in the park whereby the world famous "Old Faithful" geyser is located here. This powerful geyser has been continuously erupting the hot fountain-like boiling water and gasses until today at an average intervals of 94 minutes (at that time) to a height reaching over 100 ft. The eruption will last approximately 1.5 mins to 5 mins. We waited patiently for moment and watching it started hissing to its full force eruptions was truly an amazing experience!!!

Hissing......

Do not blink a second!!

Its coming....

More to go....

Yes!!!.....

Old Faithful erupts to the maximum height of 90 - 184 ft.

The Midway Geyser Basin

This is also one of the most amazing attractions as it features the Grand Prismatic Spring, the colorful turquoise pond surrounded by the orange and brown colored spring.