Since we last posted from Moab, AZ, Treece and I managed to find a fantastic campsite. Like Canyonlands, Arches National Park was full. We were directed up the Colorado River where we found a beautiful site within 50' of the river, complete with shade trees (take that, desert) and a rope swing into the river. Aside from a minor camera debacle (I spent the last 30 minutes cleaning it after "someone" fell down a hill trying to capture these photos), life is still great. It's hard to believe we have only been gone a week, and that three more await us. My beard is coming in well (although partly gray) while Treece's is nice and red.
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| The View from Camp |
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| The Flying Swan |
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| The Orangutan |
We had some spare time before nightfall, so we headed the 10 miles downriver to Arches and did a quick hike to Delicate Arch, per Treece's request. Little did we know that Delicate Arch at sunset (Utah's license plate photo) is a photographers dream, where we stumbled on a hundred or more people waiting for sunset. The pictures show why it is so popular - in a span of 5 minutes, the rocks go from red sandstone to glowing orange to purple as the sun quickly drops below the horizon. It was beautiful and well worth the 3 mile hike.
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| Treece at Delicate Arch |
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| Sunset at Delicate Arch |
It was a balmy 96 degrees yesterday, here in Arches National Park. We woke up early to begin our hikes to see the majority of the remaining arches. We saw Landscape Arch, Private Arch, and a host of other recognizable icons of Utah. Luckily enough, we experienced some time by ourselves at both Private Arch and Petition Arch, leading to some wonderful photos. These are but a snapshot of the arches you see, the 10+ major ones within the park. Along the way you also see what will be arches in the future, along with collapsed arches along trails. Landscape Arch itself lost half its thickness in 1991.
We completed our hike by taking the longer, "primitive trail" around the park to see some of the "fins" that may someday be arches themselves. The weather was hot but we were prepared as I climbed on top of Private Arch. Although we only traveled 30 miles as the crow flies, the landscape was notably different from Canyonlands. Here the rocks formed in long, tall fins, versus the skinny needles of Canyonlands. The primitive trail, although easier than Canyonlands (Needles District), eliminated most of the crowds found at the popular, accessible arches. A standard lunch of Clif bars, summer sausage and trail mix (plus 8 liters of water) powered us back to the trailhead. We headed back to camp for a few more jumps into the river and an early dinner.
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| Dark Angel |
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| "Primitive Hiking" |
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| More "Primitive Hiking" |
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| Private Arch. See if you can spot me. |
We started the fire to cook up hobos (code for "toss stuff in aluminum foil and throw it in the fire until cooked.") Luckily for us, a large mesa across the river provides shade at 5:30 PM, so we could enjoy the evening air without melting. Today we will drive to Canyonlands (Islands in the Sky) and see some final arches, keeping the same campsite one final night. You just can't pass up on shade in the desert.
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