Arches Adventures

This morning we drove from our campground to Arches National Park. The entrance is about 4 miles, but the Devil's Garden trailhead, at the far end of the park, is another 20 miles. Our first stop was the Visitor Center, where we picked up a visitor guide and map and spent some time looking at the exhibits. We thought we might want to do the ranger guided hike of the Fiery Furnace area, but the ranger at the desk said it wasn't recommended for people with back problems, since it involves jumping across some gaps. He suggested instead that we consider hiking the Devil's Garden trail as far as we felt comfortable.

As we drove up the switchbacks and into the park, we immediately noticed the massive fins, like walls of stone, that are characteristic of Arches. It is chemical and mechanical erosion of openings through these fins that created the multitude of arches in the park. The formation below is called Courthouse Towers.

Our first stop was at the Windows area trailhead, where we hiked in to see the North and South Windows and the Turret Arch. The size of the North Window can be seen in the photo below by comparison with the people standing under it.

This view of the North and South Windows shows why they are also called the Spectacles.

We chose to hike out via the primitive trail around the back, from which you can see the North and South Windows from the other side. This trail is not as well marked as the regular trail, and it requires some rock scrambling, but the views are fantastic.

After we returned to the parking lot, we walked to the trailhead for the Double Arch shown below. A short, relatively easy trail leads to the arches, which were formed when a pothole in the surface eroded downward through the rock.

By this time we were hungry and decided to find a picnic area. We drove up to the picnic area near the campground at the north end of the park and found a table. About the time we had everything laid out, we decided it was just too windy, so we ended up eating in the truck.

On the way out of the park, we stopped at one more arch, the Sand Dune Arch, which is hidden in between some giant fins. The hike in was shady in parts, and even sheltered from the wind. We could have eaten lunch here. In fact, some folks were carrying a cooler in as we hiked out.

We stopped at the Visitor Center again, this time to watch the orientation video and check out the gift shop. Then we headed to town to get diesel and stop at the State Store for some wine.

It was so windy this evening that it blew the Qube over and covered everything with sandy grit. Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer.