 |
| Delicate Arch |
Delicate Arch |
| Stone Hill Climb |
 |
| Fab Four on Stone Hill |
It was the seventh day on Road Trip 2021 and the rain was coming down in Monticello where we stayed. Rain threatened to keep Needles District wet, too, but the forecast for Arches NP was just a tad drier. So, we drove up to Arches and took in as much of the park as we could in one day. Neither Rita nor David had ever visited there before so we set out to show them as many arches as we could! Our first stop was Delicate Arch. It was a nice morning climb up the sandstone and around the ledge to view the arch. On the way back down, we visited the petroglyphs near the small cabin at the trailhead. These petroglyphs depicted horsemen and dogs herding bighorns. Interesting!
Stats: 3.2 miles; 650' gain; 1.75 hours
 |
| Petroglyphs |
 |
| Cabin at Delicate Arch Trailhead |
Devil's Garden
 |
| Landscape Arch |
 |
| Hiking a Fin |
 |
| Double O Arch |
Our next stop was Devil's Garden where several arches reside. The out and back 5 mile hike took us to see Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Tunnel Arch. We climbed the sandstone fins on the trail and stayed careful of the wet slippery sand. There is a loop hike that they call the Primitive Loop. It is a nice hike and scramble but we didn't have time for it. We saw Skyline Arch as we drove past and, at the end of the hike, we found a picnic table and ate our packed Subway sandwiches. It was turning out to be a beautiful day. I guess the rain crossed south of us but did drop some snow on the Manti-LaSal Mountains. In the end, Moab was the right choice for the weather.
Stats: 5 miles; 700' gain; 2.5 hours
 |
| View from Devil's Garden |
 |
| Pine Tree Arch |
Windows Section |
| Double Arch |
 |
| Open Wide |
 |
| Hiking back from Double Arch |
Our last stop in Arches was the Windows Section. Hiking about a mile of trail, we saw the Double Arch, Turret Arch, North Window and South Window. There were a lot of people around making Arches a lot different than Needles. Although the atmosphere wasn't that pleasant, it is always fun to see the menagerie of arches located here. On the way back to the hotel in Monticello, we saw a big fat rainbow in the distance!
Stats: 1 mile
 |
| North (L) and South (R) Windows |
 |
| Beneath North Window |
No comments:
Post a Comment