We ate breakfast and packed up for a day at Arches. A long line at the entrance station confirmed that we were not the only ones who had that idea. We stopped at the Visitor Center, where we saw that a ranger-led hike at Windows was starting in twenty minutes, so we drove there quickly, only to find a traffic jam at the parking lot. We were lucky to get a spot in the lower lot and hurried up the hill to join the hike, which had already started.
We joined the group at their second stop. The ranger was talking about the geological history of Arches, starting 300 million years ago with the deposit of a thick salt layer called the Paradox. He had artists’ conceptions of some of the varied landscapes that had been here in the past, and he had samples of some of the rock layers deposited during those periods. The group had to guess which rocks went with which landscape, a very basic introduction to the process of inference that geologists use in their studies.
After talking about the deposition of layer after layer of rock over millions of years, he introduced the idea that some forces had been at work to uplift the area, leading to the ascendance of erosion as a shaper of the landscape. Arches is on the Colorado Plateau, which stands on average about 5,000’ above the surrounding area.
We saw the Turban Arch as well as the Spectacles (formed by the North and South Windows). A large tour bus pulled up and suddenly we were surrounded by crowds of Chinese visitors. During the day w heard a lot of visitors speaking German and other languages, letting us know that visitors were at Arches from around the world.
After the ranger talk was over, we drove to the Fiery Furnace Overlook. We could see the rows and rows of parallel fins that make this area a maze for hikers, who are required to have a permit to enter the area and are advised to go on a ranger led hike or with an experienced guide.
We drove out to Devil’s Garden to hike to the Double O Arches, passing Landscape Arch, part of which collapsed in 1991. The first mile of the trail, to Landscape Arch, is easy, but the next mile is a different story. We took this hike in 2010, so we knew something of the challenges. This time it seemed even more difficult, with some of the slickrock very slippery because of fine loose sand on the surface and some difficult rock scrambling.
The trail is marked by cairns, but they had been knocked down or blown away in sections, so it was easy to lose the trail. At one point as we hiked along the top of a fin, we didn’t see any cairns for so long that we were unsure that we were on the right path until a group including several small children passed us. The eight to ten year olds were very adept at rock scrambling, and we followed their lead for a while.
All along the route, amazing sights delight even while the challenges of the trail are daunting. We were happy to reach the Double O Arches, where we sat on a boulder to eat our lunch.
The return hike was much quicker, even though we made a side trip to Navajo Arch. It was helpful that we had other hikers along much of the way, and we all helped each other find the way and figure out the best technique for climbing or descending the difficult parts of the trail.
Back at the trailhead, we drove out of the park and into Moab. We stopped along the way to check out Goose Creek Campground, where we stayed four years ago in the Excel. We rather expected to find that our Majestic would not fit in this campground, and it was quite clear we were right about that. Some of the trees had grown in the last four years and posed overhead barriers to taller rigs. We did see some larger units, but they were all motorhomes, which are much easier to maneuver into tight spaces than fifth wheel are.
Next we went into Moab and got diesel and found a pizza place for dinner, Paradox Pizza. The pizza was good, but pretty pricey and took a while to arrive. The manager stopped by and offered us a free dessert, which we thought was very nice of him.
After we ate it was dark, but we wanted to check out some possible places to dump our tanks in the morning. That was a discouraging process, with overhead branches, narrow roads, and other barriers making each of the possibilities seem unworkable.
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