Arches National Park

June 22, 2019 laurawhite

June 2019

Arches National Park contains more than 2,000 natural arches, the greatest concentration in the country. This canyon was once an ocean, over 300 million years ago. Over time the seas evaporated, leaving salt deposits, and soft red sandstone was blown in. As groundwater dissolved the underlying salt deposits, vertical rock slabs were formed, called “fins”. Due to wind and rain, sections of these walls eventually wore through creating spectacular rock sculptures and arches.

On our first trip into the park we got our map at the entrance station and proceeded up the steep Arches Scenic Drive to our first stop at the Park Avenue Viewpoint & Trailhead.

Next we stopped at the Courthouse Towers Viewpoint to see the Three Gossips (I like to think of them as the three wise men) and Sheep Rock. This was one of my favorite views in the park.

Proceeding on we came to Balanced Rock and then headed into the Windows Section, stopping at the Garden of Eden. Three people had just climbed to the top of one of the spires. Amazing and crazy!

Deeper into the Windows section we came to the Double Arch and Parade of Elephants.

Returning back to the main road, we made a quick stop at the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint. I have a ticket for the ranger-led Fiery Furnace Loop hike in a couple of days so I will be back here. These $16 tickets are very limited and hard to come by but I was fortunate to get one on-line just a few days in advance. You can see some hikers far below.

We stopped at the end of the road at the Devil’s Garden Trailhead and ate our picnic lunch in the cool shade. After that I hiked to Landscape Arch, even though the temperature was approaching 90 by that time. It was just 1.6 miles round trip so not too bad and it was good to stretch my legs.

The next day we decided to ride our bikes to the park entrance and go to the Visitor Center to pick up my ticket for the Fiery Furnace tour. It was about a 10 mile round trip on a beautiful bike trail that we caught just outside of our campground.

We returned to the park again one evening to see the sunset. I got Richard to take me back to the Windows section and I hiked up to the Turret Arch and got some great pictures of the sun shining on the rocks. I joined others sitting under the North Window and watched the sun set. It was so peaceful and beautiful!

I took one last picture of the Three Gossips (a/k/a Three Wise Men) and Sheep Rock on our way out.

On our last day in Moab I was very excited and nervous to go on my Fiery Furnace ranger-led hike. The description says “During this physically demanding hike you will walk and climb on irregular and broken sandstone, along narrow ledges above drop-offs, and in loose sand. There are gaps you must jump across [this is the scariest to me] and narrow places that you must squeeze into and pull yourself through. In some places, you must hold yourself off the ground by pushing against the sandstone walls with your hands and feet.” On the other hand, they allow 5-year olds to go on the hike so how hard could it be? Well I can tell you it was absolutely awesome, very exciting and challenging! I had a fantastic time and I highly recommend it.

At 9:30 am our group of 12 set off at a brisk pace on our 2 1/2 hour journey, led by Ranger Sarah. They do issue a limited number of permits for those who are brave enough to find their way through the Fiery Furnace without a ranger by following the very tiny white arrows. I know that I would get lost for days in there without a guide!

After a fast paced hike for about 15 minutes we stopped for water and a chance to get to know each other a little better. There was a couple from the Netherlands on a 4-week RV tour of Utah, a mom with three kids from Pensacola, a family of three from California on an RV trip and a young couple, both in the military, heading for Hawaii for their next deployment.

Next we stopped near an arch where Ranger Sarah told us more about the Fiery Furnace and how the fins and arches were formed. Here with the sun shining on the rocks through the arch you can see how the Fiery Furnace got its name.

We did some more climbing and stopped near a pool in a canyon for a rest.

Next we came to the dreaded leap across the gap. Ranger Sarah demonstrated the safest way to cross the gap, by sliding down the rock with one leg straight, and one bent as a brake, then leaping from the rock with hands out front and scrambling up the steep rock on the other side. Yikes, I just had to do it quickly so I didn’t freak out! Here is one of the other ladies navigating the leap. That rock is steep when you get to the other side!

Whew, I was glad to have that behind me, but the next obstacle was daunting too, using hands and feet to work your way along a crevice. I was glad to have my hiking shoes on for sure!