9/9/19 Arches National Park, Moab Utah

Arches National Park Visitor Center

Deb and John Under Delicate Arch

9/10 A challenging 3 mile hike up 480 feet to Delicate Arch was unbelievable.  The trail crosses a massive steep slickrock and near the top it goes around the edge of a rock wall on a path maybe 3 feet wide (don’t look down).  When you get around that corner there it is, "perched on the precipitous edge of a monumental cliff".  No easy feat (mentally or physically) to walk around the steep rim of a city block size rock to get under the arch which measures 32 feet wide by 48 feet high, but what the hell, you’ve come this far and haven’t killed yourself. If that wasn't enough we also hiked around the Dunes Arches for a total today of 6 miles and 60 stories in elevation both up and down according to the health app on our phones.   

9/11  Can’t say 9/11 anymore and not have your heart sink into you chest as we think about the 3000 or so souls who lost their lives that fateful day in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.  Bless them and those who still suffer.

Got up at the crack of dawn to hike to North Window for sunrise and then to double arch and balanced rock.  And on our way out of the park hiked Park Avenue in the Courthouse Towers area.  Only 4 miles and 35 floors today.  Being up so high we could see thunder and lightning around us but only got rained on once.  

Landscape Arch

9/12  Had to check out the last unexplored area in Arches called Devils Garden by hiking an easy mile to see the largest arch in the world.   Landscape Arch measures almost 300 feet across!  We continued on  to see Navajo and Partition arches, then the trail got real challenging.  For the next two miles we walked through narrow canyons, climbed up rock scrambles and hiked across the top of a “fin” hundreds of feet

in the air and only 5 feet wide in some places.  See John's fin walk  and see more "fins" (free standing walls of rock)  to his right.  A rough 6.6 mile day and 45 floors up and down.  

For all these parks you need to leave early in the morning to beat the heat and the crowds.  We brought lots of water and breakfast or lunch and spent about 5 or 6 hours each day.  Yes, it took ibuprofen and ice to recover every day and you will sleep very well! 

3 Day's Arches Hikes:  13.6 miles (1,800 feet up and down)

Dawn at Double Arch

Easter Island Cousin