Since it is so hot during mid-day here, it is advised that you hike in the morning, or late afternoon. So, we got up a 6 am, and were at Arches by 7:45 am. No line to get in, not a lot of traffic. Our explorations for the morning included:
- Hiking the Delicate Arch viewpoints 1 & 2 -- this is a "somewhat easy" hike, of 1 mile round-trip to view the Delicate Arch, from about 1 mile away. Much easier than the 3 mile round trip hike to the Arch. Turns out, a lot of it was still uphill. Nice views, though.
- Fiery Furnace Viewpoint-nice formations, great colors
- Skyline Arch -short 1 mile round trip hike to view this nice arch.
- Devil's Garden trail to Landscape Arch - this was a great 2 mile round trip hike up, around and through the formations to Landscape Arch. I was amazed at how many people hiked this trail, including folks who didn't look like athletes. Well, if they can do it, so can we. This arch is the longest one in the park.
We stopped at the visitor center on the way out, as it was closed the evening before. Then we went in to town and looked for an air conditioned location to hang out for the afternoon. We found the Moab Library, which has very cool AC, great WiFi, and comfortable seats. We worked on our computers--Peter doing his things, and me starting to update the travel blog, as I got really behind during our visit with the family.
Around 4:30pm, we decided to walk around the tourist blocks of downtown Moab, and found a nice cafe, that actually served locally brewed Kombucha - very refreshing. We also found a store that sold leather, and Peter finally found a leather jacket to replace his old worn out one. Surprise, surprise.
By this time, it was cooling off again, so we thought we'd head back over to Arches and see some more viewpoints. This time we went to The Balanced Rock, which had a nice short viewing walk all around the formation.
Then, on to the Windows Section. But, as you would have, it actually started to rain! So, we decided not to walk the hiking trails to the viewing points and turned around to return to town. However, starting to drive back, we saw this AMAZING DOUBLE RAINBOW. It was the most vibrant rainbow I've ever seen. And it completely circled the rock formation, going from one pot of gold to the other pot of gold, at the other side. A complete half circle. It was incredible. We just sat and watched it. I've never seen a rainbow last for so long.
We had arranged to meet up with Elana Davidson, a friend from our Sirius days, who grew up with Anica and Tamara. She lives in Moab, and we met at a site where some of the local community folks gather. A woman was giving an outdoor piano concert, and there was a vegan food truck. It was great to see her, and we chatted for a bit. We made arrangements to go on a hike together. Then, Peter and I found a nice outdoor restaurant to have dinner.
What a great, long, day.
Lots of Arches National Park photos:
Delicate Arch viewpoint & hike photos:
Fiery Furnace photos:
Landscape Arch and Devil's Garden trail photos:
Peter's new leather jacket photo:
Elana Davidson photo:
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