Arches National Park

Arches wins the title of “Park with the Best Destination Hike.” We spent an afternoon and a morning in Arches and got a couple of short hikes in. Unfortunately, when we got to the visitors center on Saturday at 3 pm the next available tour of the Fiery Furnace was Monday afternoon (after our scheduled departure for Capitol Reef). I guess that just means that we’ll need to go back.

We decided to stretch our legs at Balanced Rock- taking a quick walk around the trail there just to get the blood flowing after 4 hours in the car. It’s amazing to me that the rock hasn’t fallen off- it’s just a matter of time.

The 3 mile hike to Delicate Arch is mostly over slickrock marked with cairns (although there are so many people on the trail that it’s unlikely you’ll lose your way). There’s no shade but at the end of the trail you’re rewarded with a postcard perfect view of Delicate Arch.

There was a family at the base of the arch taking photos of each other totally oblivious to the fact that 30 or so people were waiting for them to move so that the arch could be photographed without them. After watching them do several different permutations of their family photo I was able to get the above shot. We were in a bit of a hurry to make it to our bed and breakfast to check-in. We were able to do the whole hike in 1 1/2 hours.

Monday morning we decided to go and hike Devil’s Garden. After 1 mile along the gravel trail is the Landscape Arch. Approximately 300 feet long, it’s the longest arch in the park.

From there to see additional arches you need to follow a primitive trail- some of it over slickrock, some of it scrambling. We decided to check out the Navajo and Partition Arches. Along the trail to Navajo Arch was one of our favorite sections of trail with erosion in the rock that looked like faces.

Having only spent 2 1/2 hours in Devil’s Garden (we decided we didn’t have enough time to check out Double O Arch and Dark Angel), we had just enough time to check out the Windows section before we needed to hit the road. We hiked the short primitive trail around behind the North and South Window (about 30 minutes) and then were on our way.

(Check out the person for scale in that last photo). On the way out of the park I took some shots from the moving car… This turned out to be a skill that I would refine the rest of the week.

5 National Parks and 1 National Monument in 9 days

We decided to explore a bit closer to home this year so we headed off to explore southern Utah over the past 9 days. We’re still uploading photos, doing laundry, and I’m packing to leave for Seattle in the morning- but I thought I’d at least post our itinerary before I forget:

Day 1: Drove 4 hours from SLC to Moab. We stopped for lunch in Helper, UT (the halfway point) and made it to Arches NP with enough time to do the Delicate Arch hike (1 1/2 hours round trip) before checking into our B&B in Moab.

Day 2: Visited Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse State Park. This section of Canyonlands and Dead Horse are about 45 minutes from Moab. Did short hikes at Upheaval Dome (1 hour round trip to 2nd overlook), Grand View Point (1 hour), and Mesa Arch (30 min). Overnight in Moab.

Day 3: Hiked Devil’s Garden to Navajo and Partition Arches (2.5 hours) and the primitive trail in the Windows section (30 min). Drove 4 hours to Boulder, UT. Stopped at many of the scenic pullouts along UT 12. Overnight in Boulder.

Day 4: Drove the Burr Trail to the Notom-Bullfrog Road through Capitol Reef NP. A lot of dirt road but really cool geology. Hiked the Rim Overlook Trail. Overnight in Boulder.

Day 5: Hiked Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Canyons off of the dry fork of the Coyote Gulch and wandered around Devil’s Garden in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Another day with a lot of dirt road but amazing slot canyons. Overnight in Boulder.

Day 6: Drove from Boulder to Bryce Canyon NP (2 hours), stopping at many of the UT 12 overlooks. Drove to Bryce and Inspiration Point overlooks. Hiked the Fairyland Loop (5 hours). Overnight in Bryce.

Day 7: Woke up early and ate breakfast at Sunrise Point. Hiked the Queen’s Garden to Navajo Loop trails. Drove from Bryce to Zion NP. Hiked Canyon Overlook Trail (1 hour) and stopped at all the overlooks within Zion. Overnight in Springdale.

Day 8: Spent the full day in Zion Canyon. Hiked Riverside Walk (1 1/2 hours) and Emerald Pools Trail. Damon hiked Angel’s Landing (under 3 hours from the Grotto) and I did a walk with a ranger (2 hours up). Overnight in Springdale.

Day 9: Hiked Timber Creek Overlook Trail in the Kolob Canyon section of Zion NP before driving 4 hours back to SLC.

In retrospect perhaps spending nights in Torrey and Escalante would have avoided some backtracking that was created by staying in Boulder- but it was nice to stay in the same place for 3 nights.

May Day

For the record, it snowed today.  Happy May?!