A hot-air balloon floating over the nearest rock monument greeted us at 6 am. I took that as a good omen and I was right. When we reached the entrance of Arches at 7:15 am, the line was practically nothing. We got right in.
Of course, we bee-lined to the trailhead to Delicate Arch, the iconic symbol of the Park, and all of Utah, for that matter. When we reached the turn off for the trail, a Ranger frantically waved us, and the line of cars behind us, by. The parking lot was full and no other cars were allowed in.
Change of plans - our theme this week. With us in the lead, our little pack of cars headed straight for the Devil’s Garden Trailhead at the end of the main road.
We arrived just in time to get one of the last parking spots available. Next time we’ll have to get up at 5 am.
The trail is a 7.2 mile loop with a total of eight arches to view. We wimped out and only went as far as Landscape Arch, a fairly easy 1.6 miles, however we did take a couple of side trails to view Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch, adding another 3/4 mile to our total.
Landscape Arch is the longest arch in the Park. It is also very thin after a big chunk fell off in 1991. That event left a very elegant structure. Unfortunately, we noticed a long fracture on the underside of the arch that may just bring the whole thing down. Hopefully, not until the distant future.
|