Arches National Park

Arches is my second favorite of the parks we visited this summer. We only spent about a day and a half there, so we didn't get to explore nearly enough because of time and heat. I would love to go back and do a guided tour of the Firey Furnace. We met up with Aaron and Alyssa in Moab.

We fell into a pattern of waking up early and getting to the park by 6 am to beat the heat. We would hike in the morning and go to the pool after lunch to cool off. Temperatures in the afternoon would get into the 90's and it was miserable.

Our "half day" in Arches consisted of visiting the visitor's center before dinner and returning for the sunset after dinner. Aaron opted to stay at the house and rest. He and Alyssa slept in the airport the night before.

Carrie, Alyssa, Kathryn, Beth, Stephen, Randy, and Kate went to see the sunset at the Windows.

Arches has over 2,000 natural arches. As we walked to double arch, the sun peaked through a window.

Double Arch.

We climbed up to sit in the bottom of the second arch. It was hard to climb up and you scooted on your bottom to get down, but the view was worth it. The other side was a sheer drop, so you have to carefully maneuver.

This was taken from my seat in the arch, looking through the first arch at the mountains, path, and parking lot behind us.

This. This sunset and taking pictures of it was one of my favorite things we did. It is in the top 5 of all the things from this trip. Once I finally get through all the parks, I will post my top five favorites.

The next day we woke up too early to hike to Delicate Arch. This hike is not for the faint of heart. It is steep. At one point you are walking straight up on a rock face. It gets your blood pumping at 6 in the morning, but the view is worth it. Delicate Arch is one of the most famous arches and featured on the Utah license plate. Take lots of water and wear good shoes if you ever go. We saw a lot of people who were starting their hike when we were ending, around 10:30, who didn't have water and were wearing sandals. Not chacos, but flip-flops or cute Target sandals. Eek!

Before we made it to the arch, we climbed into a window for our first sight of the arch. 

This hike also featured some sharp drop-offs as you neared the arch. Mom was not a fan. 

Sibling picture under the arch. Lots of people wanted their photos under the arch, so it was difficult to take a picture without people in it.

Of course we had to climb some rocks and scare mom. Aaron probably taught the three of us to do that when we were younger. There was a kid with his boy scout troop who was climbing everything and as high as he could. I hope he discovers rock climbing in the near future and takes advantage of his skills.

Thanks mom and dad for taking us on trips to national parks.

After Delicate Arch we decided to check out Broken Arch, above, and Tapestry Arch. Here is my tip: go to Broken Arch, but don't continue to Tapestry Arch. Broken Arch is a nice half mile, not too hard and quite lovely. Tapestry Arch is another half mile or so in the hot sand. It did a number on my calves walking through the sand.

Aaron behind Tapestry Arch, trying to climb up the side. 

This was about the only picture I kept of Tapestry Arch. I was somewhat disappointed with it given the hike to get there.

We checked out the entrance to the Firey Furnance, which you need a guide or back country permit for. Unfortunately, Devil's Garden was closed due to construction. Another reason to go back! 

After Broken/Tapestry Arch, we headed back to the house for a late lunch and some time by the pool before going into Moab to explore the town. And of course we cheered on the Warriors that night for Game 2 of the NBA Finals.