We got up extra early and had everyone in the cars at 7:10, only 10 minutes later than we had planned. I think this probably deserved some kind of award. Our adventure today took us to Arches National Park, a 45 minute drive from our campsite. Arches is famous for having an enormous line to get in, and the prospect of sitting in a hot car for an hour or two with wriggly children was not appealing. We were fortunate to arrive early enough to only have to wait for a few minutes, but it already looked like the line was growing.
Driving through Arches was another treat. We would through grand rock formations and wide open fields with great rock walls and towers jutting straight up. Our destination was the end of the park, which was the trailhead for several of the arch trails. Although we were up early, and although we didn't have to wait in line to get in, there were zero open spots in the parking lot. We did one loop around and then headed out of the lot to see what was available. We were fortunate to find a small viewpoint lot about 1/3 of a mile from the trail head. At first it didn't look like we would be able to squeeze both trucks in, but some of the other folks there moved their vehicles a bit to accommodate us. There is unity in trying to find a parking spot!
We walked along the road a bit before heading straight down the trail. Bode lost his shoe a few minutes in so we had the opportunity to take an early break. The shoe was recovered quickly. Arches earned its name by being home to a whole bunch of rocks that look like...wait for it...arches. The trail we were following had offshoots to go and see the different viewpoints, and the going was relatively easy to start. After probably an hour of meandering the trail took a steep turn up and required scrambling up and around some rocks. Dean and Kelly decided they had had enough scrambling for the week and took Regan and Bode on a side trail before heading home. Maria, Wes, and Remy continued on. The initial scramble wasn't too bad, but it did have a few narrow ledges that required moving very slowly. Remy has gotten very good at holding still when asked.
At the top of the scramble there was a small traffic jam. A snake was crossing the path, and we all got to watch it from a safe distance. Someone in the crowd thought that it was a kingsnake, but further googling on my part has lead me to believe that it was actually a gopher snake.
After letting the snake cross the path we continued walking along the bluff, including a few places where we had to walk along the spine of some slickrock. The rock wasn't actually slick, but it did drop off to either side, which made for more very careful slow going. The views at this point were once again spectacular. We were high up enough that you could see for miles around. We could see the canyons below and see where there might have been trails for hikers far more adventurous than ourselves. The rocks looked as if someone had taken a giant rake and ran it through the rock creating crevices between tall rock walls. I can see how earlier viewers might have thought Utah to be the work of "giant" farmers.
We turned around when the going got too steep as the temperatures were climbing. Remy did an excellent job hiking on the easier portion of the trial, and he made several lizard acquaintances before we made it back to the car. He fell asleep in 30 seconds of us starting our return drive. We finished the evening with a few steaks and a nice bottle of wine. Another excellent day in Utah!
Comments