Day 12: Arches National Park

-


Moab, Utah became our hub for 3 nights, a welcome change of pace after switching hotels the last few nights in a row. Since our first night was after a long day at Canyonlands, The Needles district (see previous post), we were excited to have a comfy hotel room and just relax a bit. Moab is built around the tourism generated by the nearby national parks, and even though half of it was closed for the season, we still had more options for eating out and things to see than many of the other cities we visited. We had some great Mexican food the first night, and after dinner, we saw our first snow flurries! We made a video for my niece Abby and she was very jealous that we got snow, but we were glad that it didn't get too bad. We were open to snow on our winter trip, but no snow storms!

The next morning, there was fresh snow on the sidewalks, but it was manageable. There was, however, a heavy fog that had us worried. Since our destination for the day was only a blessed 10 minute drive away (you have no idea how happy that made me), we decided to wait it out and had a slow, relaxing morning in our hotel, Adventure Inn.

We arrived at Arches National Park around 11:15 and made our customary stop at the visitors center to get some advice on the best hikes to do that day. The ranger, once again the epitome of sunshine and cheer, gave us some good recommendations that would give us a few shorter hikes in addition to the arches you can see from the road. One great thing about Arches is that it has an excellent infrastructure and many of the arches are within a very short walk from the parking lots. The ranger even dubbed one section of the park, The Windows, as "instant gratification road."

As we drove into the park, we were unable to see some of the first sights due to the fog. We were already making alternative plans to return to Arches the next day when we climbed in altitude and emerged from the clouds. Thank goodness! We stopped at a few pullovers to watch the fog moving across the land, and then went to our first real stop, Balanced Rock, which is a 128 feet tall sandstone boulder atop a second type of rock that is eroding. Eventually, the top rock will tumble! There used to be a smaller balanced rock right behind the larger one called "chip-off-the-old block," but it has already fallen.

After this first, gratifying, easy stop, we headed straight to the Delicate Arch trail. Delicate Arch is the most famous arch in the park, and the image most people recognize. While you can see it from the road, it is still quite far in the distance, so able-bodied people prefer to do the 3 mile RT hike. It can be tough because there is very little shade, and in the summer, the heat can be brutal. We had a slightly different problem, snowfall, but it wasn't bad enough that we would need special footwear. We just had to step carefully a few times. The hike was really lovely and included some great views of snow covered landscapes. Finally, after one last steep ridge, the rock wall disappeared and then the stunning sight of Delicate Arch was revealed with the La Sal mountains in the background.


The arch is surrounded by an amphitheater-esque bowl, and the hikers find spots to sit or take photos. Because of the season, there were only about 20-30 people there, but we heard it can get up to around 100! We sat, stared, and ate our bagel sandwiches. A few guys started getting up and walking under the arch to take a picture, so we decided to do the same. I noticed everyone was slowing down at one particular point, so I was very nervous that it would be slippery. It was. On a slope. Where one slip could send you sliding down the bowl. You wouldn't die, but it certainly wouldn't be fun. I won't lie: my legs started shaking, but I made it past! As David took my picture, I heard a ruckus and I looked over to see my jacket blowing away and my water bottle start to roll down the bowl. There was a collective gasp and the groan as the bottle went whack. whack. whack. All the way down to the bottom of the bowl. Oh the shame!!! I littered in a national park! Why God why!?

When I made it back to our stuff, some nice person had already rescued my jacket from its precarious position, but David stared down into the bowl with a very disappointed expression. Then, he said he was going to go get it. Say what? We had seen a couple venturing over a narrow part of the bowl to some other part of the path that was not visible, and David decided to follow it. I took one look at the narrow ledge, then at my legs that were still a bit shaky, and said nope! So David started off on his own while I anxiously watched and waited for him to fall at any second. A few people even asked, "How'd that guy get there? Where's he going?" I pretended I didn't know him, obviously. "Yeah, who would do that just for a water bottle? Crazy!" The worst part was when David when behind the arch to come up on top of the bowl again, and I couldn't see him. It was a long 30 seconds! But my hero emerged, bottle in hand. In my favorite photo of Delicate Arch (shown here), David is a tiny figure attempting to walk up the bowl. :D



After Delicate Arch, we drove to another section of the park. Our goal was to see Landscape Arch, but the 1.5 mile RT trail also had a couple other arches such as Pine Tree and Tunnel Arch. We went at a brisk pace so that we could maximize daylight, and we practically ran to Landscape Arch, which is seriously jaw dropping. Its almost 300 feet long and the thinnest part of the arch is only 6 feet thick. In other words, it's a feat of nature and could fall at any time. In fact, 180 tons of rock fell from it in 1991 while people were under it! Since the falling rock sounded like thunder, they had time to move out of the way, but can you imagine? For obvious reasons, no hikers are allowed to go under the arch anymore.

Since it was already 4:30, we raced to the Windows Section to see a few more arches: Double Arch, Turret Arch and North and South Window. We were enthralled by Double Arch, so we spent most of the time there. The arches are about a quarter mile from the road, and you can walk up and into the really cool formation, which was used in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! The views from inside the arches was just as cool as the arches themselves.

The sun set behind Turret Arch and we managed to get a couple pictures before it was too dark. We went back into town for a huge Italian dinner at Pasta Jay's, which I recommend! It had huge portions and really hit the spot after a long day of hiking/running around the park!

Here are a few more pictures to enjoy of the park:

Double Arch

Looking out of Double Arch



 Turret Arch at sunset



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Afternoon in La Calera

-
Image
One weekend, my friend Corrie asked if I wanted to wander outside of Bogotá for an afternoon. The answer was a resounding YES and we found a bus headed to La Calera for about $1.50. It only took 45 minutes and the drive took us up and above Bogotá, so we had some really picturesque views. The fun, winding roads reminded me of moped-ing in Bali...guess I need a moped now :) Once we arrived in La Calera, a very small town, we wandered through the streets to the main plaza. Since it was a lazy Sunday, there were also many lazy locals taking advantage of the calm. We all lounged in park benches in the plaza and watched the kids play with a ball in the middle. It fairly oozed small town vibe. Corrie, smart gal that she is, picked La Calera for one main reason: the food. We found our way to some food stalls and ordered some picada (I wrote about this dish before from Montserrate ). Even though the idea was the same, it was a slightly different variety. For example, less intestines and m...
Read more

A New Life in Bogota

-
Image
Here we are: my first week in Bogota! It all began with the flight, an easy, 5-hour direct flight from Atlanta. I even had a special guest to keep me company, a bobble head Rosie the Riveter! It was a going-away gift from my friend Sara, who told me it will remind me that YES, I can do it! I love it! I wonder where we will go together.... Now this is where it gets (more) interesting: At Georgia Tech, I had a student from Bogota (Natalia) who initially wanted me to stay with her family when I arrived. I thought that would be a bit much, so I turned it down. However, I did accept a ride from the airport because the plane would be arriving at 10:30pm. It was pretty funny to have Natalia’s mother, father, and older brother waiting for me with a sign that said “Kathleen!” I immediately realized how kind and generous they were, so I was not actually surprised when they just took me home with them. They were pretty much like “No, we’re your family now so you’re staying wi...
Read more

Museums of Shanghai

-
Image
I needed out at some of the museums of Shanghai, so let me give you a little taste of what I learned! The Shanghai Museum was my first stop, and it was phenomenal. First, it was free! Good job, China! Second, it had artifacts from thousands of years of Chinese history. As an American, that's hard to fathom. Imagine walking through galleries full of bronze, sculpture, ancient coins, and calligraphy scrolls. Some of my favorite things included traditional Chinese paintings, which were often scenic views of famous places in China, exquisite jade molded in shapes that ranged from name prints to elaborate dragons, and the ceramics, which included beautiful vases and tea and China sets (go figure). Another cool room was filled with ethnic minority costumes from the past. I thought it was really great that China chose to honor all of the minority groups in this way, especially since China is not well known for treating them equally (ahem, Tibet). I spent about 2 hours here, and I could ...
Read more