October 2015 ~ Robby Around The World

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Lake Powell, UT (2 pictures)

So that just happened! Late at night somewhere along I-95 in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on the way to Capitol Reef National Park. Never have I had to stop on a highway, get out and attempt to clear the road of massive fallen rock chunks. The rental car doesn't have quite that much ground clearance haha.

So that just happened! Late at night somewhere along I-95 in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on the way to Capitol Reef National Park. Never have I had to stop on a highway, get out and attemp to clear the road of massive fallen rock chunks. The rental car doesn't have quite that much ground clearance and I'm pretty sure the brakes may have just lost a few years off their lifespan haha. The west, the wild, wild west.

Cheers,
Robby

Arches National Park, UT

Upon arriving my first night into Arches (established in 1971), one of the many National Parks on my adventure bucket list, I spent an hour hiking the (easy, 2 mile round-trip) Park Avenue trail which takes you past towering red rock walls, in a big, washout of dried sandstone littered with curves and crazy shapes, appearing as if this once-lush area had simply melted away in the sun. The sunset on the western part of the park and I was able to catch some of Utah's finest natural dusk glows from the Windows Section of the park which has Turret Arch, both North and South Window Arches. Pretty sure that night I fell in love with the west, even more.

After camping out at a site just ten minutes away (Archview RV Resort and Campground), I headed towards Moab to spend a second day exploring Arches National Park. Something about this place had been just intriguing me for years, so it was very cool to actually get boots on the trail and hike around in this National Park. Before entering the park itself, I stopped in Moab at Gearheads Outdoors Store, a fun and helpful place to pick up a topographic map of Canyonlands National Park (where I'd be backpacking for three days later in the trip) and a can of cooking gas.

Breezing through the park's entry station with the insanely-good value, Annual Pass which for $80 per year gets you unlimited full access to all National Parks and Federal Lands. If you're a senior, congrats, you pay $10 once and it's good for the rest of your life and military members get it free. Lucky you!

I headed right to the Devil's Garden trailhead, about twenty miles from the park entrance. Here, Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch and the biggest arch in the world, the nearly 300-ft long, Landscape Arch, were all easily accessible by foot. Venture on to, but make positively sure you have water, the primitive trail which climbs up slickrock with drop-offs on either side to get to Navajo Arch and Partition Arch (which allowed for some crazy-cool views). A few miles away on the trail, you'll hike the top of the fins, which will raise some hairs if you're afraid of heights and it's windy, check out the Double O Arch and a random, darker red rock tower called Dark Angel, which has a mysterious aurora surrounding it as it towers towards the sky. The primitive trail is a bit difficult but takes you through adventurous terrain for a few hours back to the trailhead. If you're looking for a quiet, thrilling hike, this is the one to do in the park, but follow the cairns closely in some places. Halfway through this hike as you get deeper into the Fin Canyon area, you'll take a side trial to Private Arch, which was probably my favorite arch in the park due to it's shape and absolute remote, trippy and desolate location. That's the 4th picture below this text before the next paragraph.

Three hours later I was out of the Devils Garden trailhead, heading to see Sand Dune Arch (tons of sand!) and super-cool Broken Arch (there's a reason it's got that adjective in front of it!), my second favorite and another very impressive arch with cool views of the distant La Sal mountain range to the east. The sun started to set and I hiked (3 miles round trip with about 480ft of elevation gain) up the Cache Valley to see yet again, another jaw-dropping Utah sunset at the infamous Delicate Arch, which sits at around 4,829ft. Quick tip- hike behind and below the arch for a different take of it's 65ft prominence, but watch your step cause you're on super-steep slickrock and that'd be a nasty fall down below. 15 miles of hiking Arches was a perfect day and way to start off this tour. One Utah National Park down, four to go.*All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them*

Park Avenue

Part of the La Sal mountain range

North Window Arch

Turret Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Landscape Arch

The start of the Primitive Trail

Partition Arch

The other side of Partition Arch

Hiking on top of The Fins

Double O Arch

Dark Angel

Skyline Arch

Firey Furnace

Sand Dune Arch

Broken Arch (note the crack in the middle!)

Wolfe Ranch

Delicate Arch with the La Sal mountain range in the background

Related:

Arches National Park, UT

arches, national parks

Upon arriving my first night into Arches (established in 1971), one of the many National Parks on my adventure bucket list, I spent an hour hiking the (easy, 2 mile round-trip) Park Avenue trail which takes you past towering red rock walls, in a big, washout of dried sandstone littered with curves and crazy shapes, appearing as if this once-lush area had simply melted away in the sun. The sunset on the western part of the park and I was able to catch some of Utah's finest natural dusk glows from the Windows Section of the park which has Turret Arch, both North and South Window Arches. Pretty sure that night I fell in love with the west, even more.

After camping out at a site just ten minutes away (Archview RV Resort and Campground), I headed towards Moab to spend a second day exploring Arches National Park. Something about this place had been just intriguing me for years, so it was very cool to actually get boots on the trail and hike around in this National Park. Before entering the park itself, I stopped in Moab at Gearheads Outdoors Store, a fun and helpful place to pick up a topographic map of Canyonlands National Park (where I'd be backpacking for three days later in the trip) and a can of cooking gas.

Breezing through the park's entry station with the insanely-good value, Annual Pass which for $80 per year gets you unlimited full access to all National Parks and Federal Lands. If you're a senior, congrats, you pay $10 once and it's good for the rest of your life and military members get it free. Lucky you!

I headed right to the Devil's Garden trailhead, about twenty miles from the park entrance. Here, Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch and the biggest arch in the world, the nearly 300-ft long, Landscape Arch, were all easily accessible by foot. Venture on to, but make positively sure you have water, the primitive trail which climbs up slickrock with drop-offs on either side to get to Navajo Arch and Partition Arch (which allowed for some crazy-cool views). A few miles away on the trail, you'll hike the top of the fins, which will raise some hairs if you're afraid of heights and it's windy, check out the Double O Arch and a random, darker red rock tower called Dark Angel, which has a mysterious aurora surrounding it as it towers towards the sky. The primitive trail is a bit difficult but takes you through adventurous terrain for a few hours back to the trailhead. If you're looking for a quiet, thrilling hike, this is the one to do in the park, but follow the cairns closely in some places. Halfway through this hike as you get deeper into the Fin Canyon area, you'll take a side trial to Private Arch, which was probably my favorite arch in the park due to it's shape and absolute remote, trippy and desolate location.

Three hours later I was out of the Devils Garden trailhead, heading to see Sand Dune Arch (tons of sand!) and super-cool Broken Arch (there's a reason it's got that adjective in front of it!), my second favorite and another very impressive arch with cool views of the distant snow-capped La Sal mountain range to the east. The sun started to set and I hiked (3 miles round trip with about 480ft of elevation gain) up the Cache Valley to see yet again, another jaw-dropping Utah sunset at the infamous Delicate Arch, which sits at around 4,829ft. Quick tip- hike behind and below the arch for a different take of it's 65ft prominence, but watch your step cause you're on super-steep slickrock and that'd be a nasty fall down below. 15 miles of hiking Arches was a perfect day and way to start off this tour. One Utah National Park down, four to go.

Cheers,
Robby