Bill has been to Arches NP four times. Debbie had been once before. The first time he went was while in college when the park was still designated a national monument. He went there after reading Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire - the book that started the environmental movement for the desert. He remembers that all of the roads were dirt and there were no other campers in the camp ground. He climbed on top of several of the arches. How times have changed. Now the park is still unworldly beautiful but is jammed with tour buses and rv's full of ( at least this year) Germans with Japanese running a close second. The campground fills by 8 am most mornings through the year. We noticed that the "campground full" sign appeared to be nailed into place. You are lucky to find a parking place at any of the pullouts or trail heads - and this is in May before school is out. Oh, by the way, all climbing on arches is now illegal and you even have to buy a special hiking permit to hike into the Fiery Furnace area. It's still a unique place to go to and I have included a few pics that I took today.
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