Arches in the Spring

Guess where we went for Spring Break? Somewhere fun. Somewhere sunny but not too hot in the Spring. Somewhere famous.




That's right! Arches National Park! Just like it says in the title of this post. You're so smart! We got to Moab on Wednesday evening and headed out to the park the next morning. What a nice break from the snow at our house. Neither Joseph nor I had ever been there, so it was a great adventure!

First, we got to know some of the local wildlife hanging around the visitors center:



(Of course its not a real bird, I'm not that bad of a mother)



"I love you little ram! Maybe mommy will let me take you home?"



Our first hike was a nice short one that circled around a balancing rock and a few other monoliths. Elora enjoyed walking on the stones around the path. The sky was a beautiful blue that morning, but clouded up later. It was nice for hiking, but sad for picture taking around all the red rocks!







After the first hike, we perused our trail guide. The hikes were divided into easy, moderate, and strenuous, so we decided we would probably try all of the easy hikes, as there were many to choose from. I knew I for sure wanted to see Delicate Arch -the famous one- and we were pleased to see that along with a strenuous hike there was also listed an easy trail to view the arch.

We headed to Delicate Arch first, and planned to attempt the other short hikes as we made our way back to the park entrance. The hike started out simply enough, a dirt trail that went around and over many small hills. Then it started to go higher and we were wondering if we were nearing the end. After all, the hike was only supposed to be a mile round trip, I was sure that's what I read in the guide.

After walking quite a while longer, we decided I must've mixed up the distance with another hike. After asking someone if we were almost there, and being told that we were almost half way, we realized we might have made a mistake in not reading the trail marker in the parking lot! But we persevered..why turn back now?




This picture is when we were really about half way. See the trail back behind me to the right, and twisting away to the left of the photo? Yeah, that's the way we came. You can't see the parking lot, can you.




We ended up resting a lot more often as we got near the end. This is after we'd traversed most of the "slick rock" as they called the surface in the previous photo. See the rocks through the middle here? That is the trail:



Oh, and this is how the photo looked the first time I took it. Poor Joseph..he carried Joshua almost the whole way!



The scenery was varied and beautiful, and we were lucky to have temperatures in the low sixties, as there was no shade throughout the trek. I'd hate to go on this one in the summer, when temperatures can reach 116!



Finally we ascended a carved staircase, that led to a precarious ledge:



The ledge wound around (one of the few shady spots on the trail) with a sheer drop off to our left. Then we turned the corner and we had made it!


There it was! The goal of our quest, the Delicate Arch. There were about a dozen other hikers around enjoying the view. See, there's one over by the arch!


These photos make it appear deceptively closer than it is. Truthfully, the precarious edge mentioned before is just behind me where I'm taking the picture. And the ledge Joseph is sitting on actually has a very steep drop in the direction of the arch. It made for some nervousness with Elora thinking she could climb all over the place!



One could follow this sitting ledge around and reach the arch like these other people, but we decided we didn't want to try that with the kids. We rested about 15-20 minutes, then headed back. I love the snow covered mountains behind me here.



Elora was a big girl and walked all the way there, and all the way back by herself! She complained a lot less than I would expect. See the rock cairns back there? Those marked the trail on the rocky parts, and we kept Elora motivated by having her search for the next one to help us stay on the right path.

When we finally returned to the parking lot three and a half hours after we began, Josh was asleep, Joseph having carried his dead weight in his arms all the way back.

We reviewed our trail guide, and as expected, found we had (oops) gone on the strenuous trail that was three miles round trip! Not only that, but it appeared to be one of the most strenuous listed, as it was the only one with warnings about bringing lots of drinking water, loose rocks, and dangerous ledges. Ha.

In the end, I was glad for the mistake, as we wouldn't have gone on it otherwise. And hey, I'm sure the two toddlers and the pregnant lady were inspirational to the others on the hike, right?

We ended up just driving past the other views on the way back, as the kids were way too pooped for even a small trail. But what a great story, huh?

Note: here is the trail description for the trail we went on:
Delicate Arch
Start: Wolfe Ranch parking area
Length: 3 miles (4.8 km) round trip
Time: 2 to 3 hours
Elevation change: 480 feet (146 m)
Take at least 2 quarts (2 liters) of water per
person! Open slickrock with some exposure
to heights and no shade. The first half-mile
is a well-defined trail. Upon reaching the
slickrock, follow the rock cairns. The trail
climbs gradually and levels out toward the
top of this rock face. Just before you get to
Delicate Arch, the trail traverses a rock ledge
for about 200 yards (183 m).

In another part of the guide, it recommended at least a gallon of water for each person in the summer months. Oh, and here is the trail we thought we were going on:

Delicate Arch Viewpoint
Start: Delicate Arch View point Trailhead
Length: 100 yards (91 meters) round trip
Time: 10 to 15 minutes
In addition to the short accessible trail,
another (moderately strenuous) hiking trail
climbs 0.5 mile (0.8 km) toward Delicate
Arch and ends at the rim of a steep canyon
that sep a rates the viewpoint from the arch.
This is not the popular trail to Delicate Arch,
which starts at the Wolfe Ranch parking area.

I think we made the better choice, don't you?