It's Not a Mid-Life Crisis: Day 6 - Arches National Park

Elevation = 5500 ft

Miles hiked = 7.5

It seems that when you are camping, it’s early to bed and early to rise. I am up by 6:00, make a quick breakfast of pancakes and sausage (getting the stove lit is next to impossible in the wind), and get all of the gear packed up and stowed in the car. I drive back through the canyon on 128 (stunning! mouth agape!) and up 191 to the entrance to Arches. Already there is a line of cars waiting to enter.

Arches NP

I have a quick stop at the Visitor’s Center, which is everything a Visitor’s Center ought to be – clean, sunny, inviting, informative. I speak with one of the rangers about a guided hike in Fiery Furnace (too bad – already booked up). We chat for a while about the Devil’s Garden Loop, which is part “primitive trail”. He looks at me dubiously and asks about my experience with desert hiking (that would be none), and instead recommends turning back after Dark Angel Arch rather than complete the loop. Okay – seriously, how hard could this be? (Cue ominous music here.)

The best part of the Visitor’s Center is the interactive display on various plant life in the park. I spent a happy 30 minutes looking through it, thinking, “Aha, so that’s pinyon pine.” “Hmmm, looks like the Indian Paintbrush won’t be in bloom”, and am gratified to accurately identify my toxic plants - Mormon Tea (a relative of Ma Huang, contains ephedra) and Larkspur (contains cardiac glycosides).

View from Devil's Garden Trail

Landscape Arch

Partition Arch

I set off straight for Devil’s Garden. The hiking trails are busy, but according to the guide books, they thin out after Landscape Arch (they don’t). I hike the side trails to see Partition Arch and Navajo Arch, all of which are crowded. The uphill, slickrock trail to Double O arch is crowded as well (and BTW – you people have NO trail etiquette). As it nears Double O Arch, the trail crosses a 5 foot wide fin of slickrock, with a sheer 3 story drop on either side. Did I mention that it is incredibly windy up here? I chat with a couple of guys who have already attempted to cross it. “Get’s worse than what you can see from here”, says one happily. “We got about ¾ of the way across, and the wind got so bad we crawled back on our hands and knees”, chimes in the other. As we watch, one girl is almost blown off the fin by a gust of wind. She crawls back, sobbing. I decide that I am far more invested in continuing to walk, eat and breathe than in seeing Double O Arch, so I turn around and head back.

Walking along a fin - the arrow denotes where I'm about to walk.

Yes, it's cold.

Boulders along the path

Cool rock details

Navajo Arch

Rock fins

Watching people try to cross to Double O Arch

I eat lunch at Doc Williams Point (pouch of tuna, an orange, granola bar), overlooking the Salt Wash Valley, and am mercifully alone. I make the decision to head to Klondike Bluffs, one of the most remote areas of the park. It is down a dirt side road, on which the signs say “Impassable in wet weather. Do not attempt if recent rain or rain is threatening.” Oh boy – and it looks like rain. But, I have 12 gallons of water, a week’s worth of food and all of my camping gear – so off the Focus and I head. PS – MythBusters was absolutely right – the washboard road isn’t as bad if you go faster. (I love you, MythBusters. Especially you, Tory. Call me.)

I’m glad I did. There is almost NO ONE back here. The trail begins with a long scramble up a field of boulders and slickrock. At the top, I realize I have left my camera in the car. Which is a sad thing, because the hike and the views are incredible! The area is a huge amphitheater of red spires, towers and cliffs (lots of red rock… where is John Tesh when you need him?). The trail leads down to the base of some sand dunes, then a long uphill slog through loose sand. The wind has erased the footprints of the previous visitors, so we are careful to follow the rock cairns which mark the trail at intervals. I am joined on my hike by Pat and Carol, a nice middle-aged couple from Sun Valley, Idaho, whom I met in the parking lot. They bicker good-naturedly the entire time “Forty years of marriage and you’ve never wanted to do anything like this!” “Yeah, well I’m doing it now”. After about 2 miles, we reach the end of the trail. The arch is actually a tower with an arch in it (thus the name), with a spire with a balanced rock behind it. It is fabulous! As I eat a snack and contemplate the arch, an older gentleman flops to the ground next to me, and proceeds to tell me his life story. Born in Austria, he lived about a sailboat for many years, traveling wherever he felt like. “When I run out of money, I go ashore, I work a few months, get back on my boat and *poof*! Away I go!” He hates that you have to pay for camping in the National Parks, and encourages me to try hiding on the BLM land. I point out that toilets (even pit toilets) are important to women as we prefer to not pee on our shoes, and take my leave.

Following the rock cairns across a fin

It's really windy!

View across Salt Wash Valley towards Klondike Bluffs

Obligatory Balanced Rock picture

Luckily for me, a site is open at Oak Grove Campground – the one I wanted all along. And, it’s the best site! Private, out of the wind, surrounded by oak trees, on a bluff overlooking the river. If you ever go to Moab, you want site 4, Oak Grove Campground.