There was still plenty of Utah to explore so David and I headed south to Moab for the day. Just after crossing the Colorado River bridge north of Moab, we turned east along the south bank of the river.

One of the first side canyons on the south (right) included a Class C natural arch called Updraft Arch. It is easy to see from the road and is approximately 2.6 miles from the Colorado Bridge.

A short distance further east (about 3 miles from the Colorado Bridge), we stopped at Negro Bill Canyon which is also on the right and heads to the south with side canyons continuing east. (This canyon is named after a past local resident. The name will probably be renamed some day to reflect modern ‘Political Correctness’.  Unfortunate but inevitable.)

We hiked south up the canyon for about 1.2 miles and then took the first canyon on the left heading eastward. We hiked this canyon another .6 mile before turning south again up the first side canyon on the right. Here you can see giant Class A natural arch called Morning Glory Arch just .4 mile to the south, where the canyon creates a dead end at the arch and dryfall.

Here I got a chance to try some Infrared photography.

Once at Morning Glory Arch, we got a chance to sit in the cool shade and watch climbers repelling through the arch from above.

The setting really made the hike worth while. Very pleasant.

We finally headed back to the vehicle and found that we still had enough daylight for a quick trip up Onion Creek near Fisher Towers. We drove all the way up Onion Creek until the dirt road topped out at Fisher Valley.

The Onion Creek canyon was beginning to be swallowed in evening shadows by the time we drove down again.

We were rewarded with a colorful sunset and then it was dark.

Time to head for home again.