We started out our hike early to delicate arch, this is not a long hike, only 3 miles but it is all in the open, no shade. It was hot when we started at 9 I can only imagine it (or I prefer not to) at 1!
It is a pretty boring hike, until you come to the last corner, and there it is! A huge ravine/canyon/scary hole and the Arch (Utah's state symbol!) It is pretty impressive.
I found a nice spot to sit where I felt safe and I think I took about 10 families Christmas Card photos.....
Little kids, absent minded parents and Rob walked all around this ravine area. It reminded me of one of those big water slides that is like a big funnel.
My picture is not very good, as you can not communicate with each other! He is really far away!...and I was scared he was going to fall... so I wanted to be very fast!
We do like each other, it was just really HOT AND we wanted to be able to see the Arch, but it kind of looks like we smell (which we might! ha!) There was also a lot of people on cell phones up here, as it is the ONLY place in the park where you get signal.
After we took in as much beauty as we could we hiked back down. And went to breakfast....
We hiked 3 miles... we deserved it :D It was very tasty at a little place called Eklecticafe. We sat outside and enjoyed the shade and the beautiful weather. We then decided to take advantage of our annual park pass and drive 30 minutes to Canyonlands. The guidebook said there was a driving tour and Rob promised that I would not need to hike, that we could just drive and see the sights. So we headed off to Canyonlands.
Well we get to the first stop and we walk out to the view point. It is a nice park there is NO ONE around, and from the view point we see a canyon and a lot of 4x4 trails. Canyonlands is known for its off-roading (next time!) The next view point is a bit of a hike, it is getting hotter now. So we hike out and find an Arch (YAY another Arch!)
We hike back to the car and I surrender.. "no more hiking, it is 1000 degrees!" Rob concedes and hikes to the next view point by himself... and I stay in the FJ with AC.
Then one last view point.. that I can see the end of from the car
Bye Canyonlands it has been fun! We head back to the airstream for a margarita and some "How I met your mother" but just for a few minutes!
After we cooled down a bit we headed out to our Fiery Furnace tour. I was nervous, very nervous. You have to go pick up the tickets at the visitor center so that they can go over the warnings with you one last time. The description on the park's website states...
During the hike, participants must walk and climb on irregular and broken sandstone, along narrow ledges above drop-offs, and in loose sand. There are gaps which must be jumped and narrow places that you must squeeze into and pull yourself up and through. In some of these places, you must hold yourself off the ground by pushing against the sandstone walls with your hands and feet. Due to the maze-like nature of the terrain, all participants are committed to completing the hike once they enter the Fiery Furnace.
Oh great! I love things that I cant back down from once I figure I am in over my head! But I figured if the government let you do it... then it could not be that bad... right?
Here I am before...
We met our group and our ranger and she led us into the furnace. Which is this area of tall fins of sandstone that you can walk between. It was amazing and I highly suggest doing it. There was no part that was scary at all.
This was the hardest part!
Surprise Arch!
This was the end of the tour, it was this beautiful arch in this hidden area. It was so quite you had no idea that there was a huge national park around you with a ton of people running around.
After our amazing tour, we freshened up and headed back to Moab for dinner at a co-worker recommended restaurant "Desert Bistro" it was a great meal on their back porch. We sat outside when we got back to the campsite and enjoyed our last night in Arches. There are so many stars and it is so dark in the park it is beautiful!
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