“For creatures without wings, well-suited to miles on the ground, there’s an odd momentum in humans that brings them ever-higher.” – Old Sean
Morning Under the Arch
Many times in my life, I’ve done the routine of waking up in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, blinking gunk from my eyes and starting the engine before I’m fully awake.
A man doesn’t fall asleep in a vehicle and not feel like he has a place to be.
After Krone, Evan and I failed to find a campsite the previous night, we opted to sleep in a hotel parking lot in the hopes of waking up early to beat the crowds at Arches National Park
To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember much of the drive in. Not being fully awake, I mostly recall a pretty sunrise, a groggy silence from everyone in my party and a bit of speeding along the dusty desert road.
Eventually, we pulled up to Balanced Rock within the park and got moving more effectively. The nearby bathroom helped greatly and we quickly got ourselves sorted and situated.
Teeth brushed, bladders relieved, sun squinted at and clothes shuffled into something… well, presentable might be a stretch. But we were ready to hike.
Evan (wisely) suggested that we start at the back of the park and work our way forward, since we had already seen people driving throughout the park. Missing any gradual crowds would be a godsend. Cool morning air and a lack of wind blessed us, and we were ready to go.
The Devil’s Walk
Krone and I agreed and we loaded up, heading toward the very northern end of the park, the famous Devil’s Garden. The irony that we had just recently visited the Garden of the Gods let us chuckle merrily as we hiked.
Now, I should mention that we had been on a lot of hikes at this point.
We had scrabbled up mountains outside of Santa Fe, traversed the Great Dunes near Alamosa, wandered the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, traversed the wide loops around thermal vents in Yellowstone, sprinted along the level, unforgiving surfaces of Bonneville Salt Flats, picked our way through the crust surrounding the Great Salt Lake, wobbled up steep hills in chills to glance at the Berkley Pit and even traversed the manicured grounds in Temple Plaza of Salt Lake City.
And while all of those walks treks were interesting and some even strenuous, none were challenging from a technical standpoint.
Arches National Park was a very different story.
Arches starts off as an easy short walk through a tall rock canyon, great pillars of sloping stone, grandly red, on either side. Fine desert sand kicks loosely off of toes, but the ground is level. But later on, it starts to dip and rise, and leg muscles that recall the Great Dune’s upward fight against shifting sand and gravity start to wiggle in concerned anticipation. Then, great stone boulders become a part of the path, forcing trekkers to push, lift and crawl. Boulders shift into cliff faces, which shift into giant ridges to run across which dip into gorges, valleys, walls, sandy slopes, precipitous drops and steep hills.
Poor Evan managed to leave his hiking boots in the car, and attempted the terrain in nothing but loafers.
It is a demanding and very diverse hike.
It was my favorite hike all trip.
A Red-Walled Hike
First, Evan, Krone and I wandered through the desert brush, noting the low, sharply twisting trees, low-lying prickly-pear cacti and brushing sand around the path with our each passing step. Sweet-smelling sage drifted on the wind.
However, we soon reached a fork in the loop, and decided to plunge left. We briefly glanced at the semi-collapsed but extremely beautiful Landscape Arch, which looked uniquely delicate against the clear sky. We also spotted Partition Arch bored into the red, rustic stone.
At this point, our hike became very interesting. Though the lateral distance to the next point wasn’t much, the land began to swell up, and we found the trail rocking ever upward, placing along a series of massive stone fins.
Arches National Park was formed through a double layering event. First, oceans deposited massive amounts of salt on the land, eventually evaporating but leaving huge salt flats behind. Other minerals and deposits were eventually left behind as well, compressing into solid stone over time.
The harder, denser minerals simply couldn’t be supported by the underground salt barriers, and began to tilt, eventually rising as grand, stony fins. These fins were gradually eroded over time by the duality of wind and water, leaving the impressive landscape hoards of people come to visit today.
These stone fins are brilliant for climbing and clambering in general. I found myself sprinting across the wide balance beams, darting back and forth from Krone and Evan as they hopped atop boulders, scaled small mountains and brushed over rough rock. Evan spotted a pair of morning deer hopping about and when we reached the immense overlook near Double O Arch, we were treated to one of the grandest sights on our trip.
Folds and layers of valleys made by vertical fins grimly glowed a rustic red in the rising sun with stiff bursts of high winds brushing back our hair as we gazed forever out.
It was stupendous.
Continuous Climb
Our hike continued, checking out several more arches and many, many more trails and climbs. Our hike was mostly a solo expedition, as we had arrived well before most other people. It was a comfortable semi-solitude for our little group, even as we grew tired on our unexpectedly strenuous journey.
A word to the wise. For those hiking Devil’s Garden Loop, turn left towards Double O Arch at the Loop. This is the tougher terrain, but it’s much easier to handle it when a person is fresh and ready to climb, rather near the end when the hike has thrown down so many challenges already.
Once our hike was completed, we made it back to the parking lot, bracing against gradually increase crowds of people that began to populate the late-morning trail, including a few rangers that stalked the opposite direction of us.
Several people asked for our expertise in directions, which we provided with as much advice as possible.
Beware the Mob
When we finally got to the parking lot, we knew early morning had been the right choice, slight bleariness aside. Mobs of cars took up virtually every parking spot and a fair number of places along the road.
There simply wasn’t enough room for more incoming vehicles. Evan and I shouted out different license plates from around the states as we drove away, noting far flung New York, Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Maryland and North Carolina among them.
We quickly did some drive by stops at the amazing overlooks for Salt Valley and Fiery Furnace on our drive back south, but Devil’s Garden simply had already shown us more impressive scenery.
The last thing we truly wanted to see on our way out was the Delicate Arch. If Old Faithful is the star of Yellowstone, Delicate Arch is the pristine symbol of Arches National Park. It’s on virtually every tour guide, brochure and travel booklet referencing the park.
However, the crowds were truly daunting. There wasn’t a single parking space that wasn’t either crammed or a handicap. Already worn from our hike, we achieved swift consensus and decided to get back to Moab for lunch, rather than wait out the crowds.
Driven Tour
Our drive out did have a few welcome surprises. Balanced Rock was still impressive to see, especially in clearer light. The bulbous stone creation is balanced impossibly on it’s tee, tilted oddly but sealed in place.
The Petrified Dunes further south are likewise interesting. Once a sea of sifting sand, the dunes retain the distinctive wavy pattern and snakelike motion, but now with harsh clefts patterning their compressed surfaces.
And near the exit of the park, the Tower of Babel, the Courthouse Towers and the Organ are all sheer, powerful and forceful rock formations.
Knowing Moab
Upon exiting the park, we turned left, thundering into Moab with a single purpose: Eat enough lunch to ensure we forgot we missed breakfast.
Fortunately, Antica Forma was nearby to hear our prayers. The restaurant served fine cuisine pizza, and soon we were all stuffing our faces with two shared pies. In the background, the movie The Wild Wild West starring Will Smith was playing, which was an odd visual sight even without sound. There was a steampunk confederate inventor, giant tarantula robot, presidential double, Will Smith in a dress and a lot of explosions kind of revealed the plot without a word needing to be heard. I think. It was still entertaining.
Regardless, that’s our day for Arches. We only have a couple of stops left before we’re off to visit Evan’s brother in Albuquerque.
So until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written April 24th 2021
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