Lunch and Snack go to Utah (and beyond)

August-September 2013

Next stop, another place the cows had been before -- Arches National Park near Moab. Lunch and Snack once spent an afternoon here while on their way to Colorado.

This is an area of the park known as "Wall Street," a wall of rocks lining a boulder-strewn valley.

"Gosh Snack, it's still balanced! Amazing that it stays up there!"

The bovines marvel at Balanced Rock, one of the park's landmark features.

Lunch and Snack try their hooves at stacking up their own balanced rocks. A trail around Balanced Rock is lined with rock stacks created by park visitors.

"You know Lunch? This is what this place is all about."

Double Arch is one of the park's most popular attractions.

Our intrepid bovines stop at the overlook for the Fiery Furnace formation in the central part of Arches. No one is allowed to venture into the area without a trained hiking guide because of its confusing array of pathways and passages.

The last stop in Arches was the iconic Landscape Arch, one of the longest-spanning natural arches in the world. Park visitors used to be able to hike beneath the span, but a rock fall several years ago prompted park officials to close the area to hiking.

"You know Snack, this is really amazing. I wonder how long it will last?"

"Hard to say, but in the end, gravity always wins."

Next up was nearby Canyonlands National Park. The vista from the Grand View Point Overlook was breathtaking. The park, made up entirely of mesas and canyons, encompasses the confluence of the Colorado and Green rivers.

"Gosh Lunch, this place never stops!"

The northern section of the park, a mesa known as Island in the Sky, is surrounded by canyons that are mostly inaccessible except on foot or by four-wheel-drive vehicle.

"Holy macaroni! I don't like the look of those clouds! I think we should hoof it out of here Snack!"

A thunderstorm passing over Upheaval Dome on the northwest side of Island in the Sky was tossing out lightning bolts that prompted the cows to beat a hasty retreat.

With no camping available in Canyonlands, Lunch and Snack journeyed to nearby Dead Horse Point State Park, part of the Utah parks system. There was indeed a campsite available, but the view of the Colorado River from Dead Horse Point Overlook was the REAL reason for visiting.

The point, accessible only by a narrow neck of land, was once used to round up wild horses, which were driven to the point and then corralled there for sorting. The park's name was reportedly derived from a herd of horses that was left to die of thirst, ironically within sight of the river beneath the cliffs surrounding the point.

Wary of the weather that drove the cows from Canyonlands, Lunch and Snack look at a thunderstorm passing safely off to the east.

"Sure glad we don't have to worry about that one. It should be a nice, dry night for camping."