Arches National Park

We had to drag the kids out of bed this morning.  We needed an early start so we could drive the 2 1/2 hours into Utah and get to Arches National Park before it got too crowded and too hot.  We stopped at the Welcome to Utah sign for a picture.  As soon as I stepped out of the car, I saw that the side of the highway was littered with trash.  This was a jarring sight after being in Colorado for several days.  I hadn't seen a single piece of litter in Colorado.  They might be over-the-top at times, but they do take good care of their beautiful state.

Hooray for Utah!

We got back on the road and Utah immediately began to make up for their trashy roadside with a speed limit of 80mph!  Woohoo!  Soon we were at Arches National Park.  They too had the picture post to set up for your camera.  Is this a new trend at national parks?  I hope so!

We tried to be super quick with our picture because the line to the get into the park was already very long.  We did not beat the crowds or the heat.  Arches has become very popular over the past few years and the line to get through the entrance gate sometimes stretches all the way back to the highway.  They have set up a traffic cam that you can check online to see how bad the crowds are before you go.  This is what it looked like when we arrived around 10:30AM.  

We got in the right lane, which turned out to be the wrong lane.  The left lane was moving twice as fast as the right.  Our gate attendant should not be allowed to work during the busy morning if she's going to be that slow.  It took over 30 minutes to get through the line, which is at least 10 minutes longer than it would have been if we'd chosen the other lane.  

But, we finally got through and stopped first at the visitor center.  It is a large visitor center with many nice displays about the park.  The park movie was about to begin so we headed into the theater to watch it.

The kids picked up Junior Ranger books and we headed into the park.  There is basically one long road that travels through the entire park, with a couple of smaller roads shooting off the main road to other sections.  Our plan was to drive all the way to the end of the road and begin by hiking to Landscape Arch.  It was lunchtime when we finally got to the end of the road so we stopped for a picnic first.

By the time we started our hike, it was the middle of the day and it was HOT.  There were warning signs at the trailhead urging hikers to hike early or late and be sure to bring lots of water.  We all had our Camelbaks so at least we followed the water portion of the warning.

We took a side trail to see Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch

There is red sand everywhere here.  The trails have gravel, but in many areas the gravel is covered with sand.  Before we left for this trip, we all got a pair of Keens to wear for the trip and these are the only shoes we brought.  They are waterproof, have closed toes, they are comfortable, and they have enough traction for hiking.  They've been great so far, but we discovered a downside today when we all got lots of sand in our shoes.  This especially bothered Caleb who really wanted his sneakers.

The landscape here is very interesting.  Huge rocks everywhere.  There are some grasses, shrubs, and very small trees but no flowers.  

This was our longest hike planned for the day and it felt like a long one in the heat.  We finally arrived at Landscape Arch, which is the widest arch in the park.  It is an impressive size, but you aren't able to get very close to it.

There are several smaller arches near Landscape Arch. 

We headed back to the car and the kids were DONE with hiking.  I think the cool Colorado temps spoiled us.

We continued to force the kids out of the car against their will to see the rest of the park.  Delicate Arch is probably the most iconic of all the arches in the park.  To get close to it requires a 3 mile hike with no shade so we settled for the distant viewpoints that are a short walk from the parking lot.

Delicate Arch

The kids admiring Delicate Arch

As we walked back to the car, Caleb noticed a Utah license plate with a picture of the Delicate Arch.  "Hey, that looks like what we just saw!" 

Petrified sand dunes

Our next stop was the Windows section of the park.  We had planned to take the short hike to view the North and South Window Arches, but the parking was full on that side and we ended up parking in front of the Double Arch.  This turned out great because we hiked up the Double Arch and it was the highlight of the day.  It is the tallest of all the arches and you can go right up inside of it.

This thing is huge.  Notice the people inside the arches.

Looking up through the hole between the two arches.

This is the view from inside the arches.

Morgan and Caleb both acted like little mountain goats and climbed all over the rocks.  Rodney and I spent the entire time saying "Be careful!" and "Get down!".  

Rodney and the kids climbed up into the second arch.  They said the other side was a steep cliff!  It got windy while they were up there and they said it was kind of scary.

We spent quite a while in the Double Arch climbing and enjoying the cool shade.  It was great.

This rock was nearby the Double Arch.  I think it looks Santa Claus.

The last rock on the must-see list was Balanced Rock.  The kids were done with the heat and the sand and the rocks so they wouldn't even get out of the car for Balanced Rock.  They could see it just fine out the car window I guess.

I think this formation is called The Three Gossips.

This one looked precarious as well.

All in all, Arches was a very interesting place but I think we just are not "rock people".  Give us a beach or a mountain or anywhere with flowers and trees and we are in heaven, but a huge landscape of hot rocks?  Eh.  I thought this would be a highlight of our National Parks tour but it did not turn out to be a favorite.  I do think the extreme heat and crowded entrance played into our experience so maybe we would have felt somewhat different if we hadn't ended up there at the worst time of day.  I'm definitely glad we went, but I feel like we were able to see and do everything we wanted within a few hours.

We stopped back at the visitor center on our way out for Morgan to turn in her Junior Ranger book.  Caleb decided not to participate this time.

One of the activities in the book was to draw and name your own arch.  Morgan created Falcon Arch.  The park ranger was so impressed with her drawing that she asked if she could take a picture of it.

Morgan with her Junior Ranger badge.  We were surprised to see that it is wooden!  How cool!  Most are plastic badges and sometimes a sew-on patch.  

Our hotel in Moab has an outdoor pool and it was like bathwater in this heat.  We rinsed the sand out of our Keens and enjoyed the refreshing pool.

We then got cleaned up and headed down the main drag in Moab for some dinner.  We enjoyed some delicious Mexican food and saw a red sun dipping below the mountain as we came outside from dinner.

We walked down Main Street Moab for a while.  It is a cool little town.  Lots of fun restaurants and shops with the red mountains all around.

Since we are on vacation, we stopped for some ice cream.  We saw that they had huckleberry ice cream so we had to try it.  We have been reading my cousin Steve's amazing travel blog (www.travelingkings.com) and have noticed that they have a real love for all things huckleberry.  It was good and Morgan chose it as her ice cream flavor!  Caleb's flavor choice was called Superman.  It's hard to identify the flavor, but it is very colorful.

Ice cream is generally a great way to end a day and that's just what we did!