Following our morning/Afternoon at Canyonlands, we took advantage of the 50-minute drive to Arches to have lunch in the car. Armed with a bit more energy, we were ready to tackle a 3-mile round-trip hike, one that involved a 500 foot change in elevation. The payoff? “Delicate Arch,” the iconic arch that serves as Utah’s state symbol on license plates. It is also one of the best hikes in a National Park.
Arches National Park
We began the trail hiking through some wet dirt turned to mud and then wandered into the ice. There were slip-ups along the way to the arch and on the way back. Unfortunately, the trail was not clearly marked the entire way. One particular part of the trail was one giant rock which connected two parts of the trail. Thankfully, past hikers and Park Ranges had arranged cairns to help us find our way.
The rock was steep to climb and difficult to find our way down, and at times the trail was narrow…
…but it provided some of the most beautiful views of the snow covered mountains surrounding us.
We arrived just as the sun was setting, with enough time to get some amazing photographs of the picturesque arch and the colorful sky behind it.
We admired the view and could hardly believe the wonderful day we spent hiking outdoors. Although we may get tired from time to time during the hikes, our temporary exhaustion is always worth the memories we make during our adventures.
We spent time getting photographs–and getting in photographs–from various angles. We got close to the camera and far from the Arch…
…in the Arch and far from the camera…
…a selfie…
…or two…
…and we made sure to get the back of our shirts–featuring the Delicate Arch–in the photo.
Ryan, ever-helpful, even went to great lengths to accommodate photographic requests of strangers.
The second half of the hike was a bit more challenging.
The darkness made it more difficult to see, and the ice seemed to have hardened and become more slippery.
One woman fell, and she needed some time to recuperate. She was lucky, because a fall in some places would have resulted in severe injury or death. For our part, we took it very carefully…
…and, as it grew darker…
….we got out our flashlights.
. However, we soon got back to the car and left for our hotel back in Moab. For many of our group, the Delicate Arches trail was our new favorite hike!
Dinner
We took some time to clean up at our hotel before heading out for dinner. Because the winter season is not as busy for Moab, many of their restaurants were closed. Thankfully we found a good option called El Charro Loco. We continued our Mexican-themed trip by sampling Moab’s finest Mexican food. We ordered the chips and chorizoqueso for appetizer before ordering a variety of tacos. Professor Yawn ordered the chile verde and was very impressed! The rest of the group ordered tacos such as Al Pastor tacos and the mango fish tacos. The portions were large and filling. We reviewed our itinerary for the next day before heading back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.
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