We’ve been in Moab, Utah for a week now and have completed all of the hikes within Arches National Park. Since we had been here 3 years ago, we felt like we knew our way around the park and had some very definite plans about which hikes and attractions we would spend our time viewing. We had reservations for 8:00 every morning for the timed entry program, so we had no trouble getting in or finding a parking place. The only problem with going in the mornings, is the light is better in the afternoon, but the sun was intense and we found that hiking in the afternoons was too hot. We stopped at all of the regular stops, Park Avenue, Sheep Rock, Three Gossips, Courthouse Towers, Balanced Rock; you get the picture. Below are some photos of these places along the main road through the park.
The first hike that we wanted to complete was one that we had done before but 3 years ago I didn’t have the courage to go all the way to the Delicate Arch. This time I was determined I was going to complete this trail and stand under the arch. It’s not a hard hike, mostly climbing uphill on slick rock which wasn’t particularly difficult but it’s straight up at times. I have some pictures below that you can check out and see the tiny people walking up the slick rock. I had to stop several times to catch my breath but there was no difficult scrambling on the hike. Once we got near the top, we had to scramble around some small cliffs but that wasn’t too bad either. I took a selfie of us from the wall of boulders and decided I didn’t really need to go under the arch but once Greg did it and I got a photo of him under the arch, I decided I needed to do it as well! Success!! This is one of the most famous arches in the park and is always crowded but people were great about letting others get under the arch for photographs as if they were the only ones by the arch! This famous arch is also on Utah’s license plates. Arches NP has over 2,000 stone arches but this one is recognized world-wide as the symbol of the state of Utah. It’s the largest free-standing arch in the park!!
The next day we took several smaller hikes to reach more of the arches. We hiked to North and South Window Arches, Double Arch, and Turret Arch. These arches are all together in the Windows Section of the park so the hikes were short and easy to complete. A good time to catch a few selfies. This is a popular section of the park so getting photos without others in them was harder than at other arches. After seeing the two Windows Arches, we took a primitive trail back to the car and it was so nice because we were the only people on the trail. It was quiet and secluded without feeling like we were way far away from civilization.
We decided to complete a couple more hikes; Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch Hike, and Tapestry Arch Hike. These were all fairly short hikes and we were able to complete them all within a couple hours. If I didn’t stop so many times to take pictures we could finish a lot more quickly!! Here are some photos from these hikes.
We decided while we were in that park that we would complete a Jeep trail that I thought we had done in our previous trip and since it was too hot to hike, we gave it a go. Big mistake for me!!
We started on the Salt Valley Road which was mostly soft sand in wash crossings. That’s what I thought the whole road would be WRONG!! We took a turn (and saw a coyote) and went onto a 4 wheel drive road. We passed the entrance to Tower Arch and Marching Men and drove down the Tower Arch Road. The book said it was “beautiful, challenging and great fun”. Not sure I’d agree with the “great fun” part. We found the trail to be harder than on our previous trip. We didn’t know it was rated as a difficult road and that the obstacles at the entrance were tougher than we thought. It took about 3 hours to complete. There were a couple difficult rocky climbs and careful tire placement was needed as well as a spotter (ME). Because we have a tow bar on the front of the Jeep, we had to be especially careful not to damage that on this ride. We had to weave between large boulders at the bottom of the wash and then drive over several rock humps which dropped into a narrow wash at the bottom. I was so happy when the steep rocky scrambling over large boulders was complete!!
One of the sections of the park, Devils Garden, has 6 arches in it that we wanted to tackle hiking. We had completed all of them in our previous trip except one, the Double O Arch Hike. I was determined I would complete all 6 this time, so that was the next day’s plan!
Devils Garden Trail is the longest of the maintained trails in the par k. The length of the trail is 6 miles; 7.2 if you choose to do the primitive trail on the return Loop. If you don’t do the primitive loop you would just return the same way you went out. That means you scramble down the rocks just as you scrambled up them. The trail to Landscape Arch is easy and well-graded and it gives you a close look at one of the longest natural stone spans in the world. There are two short side trips to Tunnel and Pine Tree Arches which we completed as well. The trail between Landscape Arch and Double O Arch is more difficult, winding along narrow tops of exposed sandstone fins, then up and down steep crevices where steps have been cut into the rocks. It said this trail wasn’t recommended for hikers with a fear of heights (ME), but I was determined to complete it anyway!
Proof I made it to the top and scrambled along with Greg. Now I can check that one off of my list! One more day of hiking and I’ll post that day tomorrow.
Camping Konneys 