Meg poses near the start of the trail in Devil's Garden...
The buffet was great for a "free" hotel breakfast, and the self made waffles were the highlight. We drove the 10 minutes to Arches, and made our way to Devil's Garden, located at the end of the road. Several "oohs" and "ahhs" were heard inside the car as we drove past the red towering rocks. Unfortunately the clouds were in full force, and covering up the morning sun, but on the otherhand, the temps were pleasant in the 80s.
The plan is to hike Devil's Garden, which I didn't get a chance to see when I was here with Nick in May. It's a 6-7 mile hike, and I was unsure how my family would be able to handle hiking that far, and at ~5000' elevation. We started around 8:30am.
Meg poses near the start of the trail in Devil's Garden...
The first arch we see is Landscape Arch, directly behind us...
This arch is very thin, and part of it broke off 10 years ago. They used to let people walk under it, until then...
Cairns mark the passage of people, and along this rock wall, many people felt the desire to leave a sign...
So far the family was hiking strong, and enjoying their first taste of Utah's environment. We pushed on next to Partition Arch, a rock wall with two holes in it.
Partition Arch, with my sister sitting in the smaller arch...
In this area, I noticed a tiered tall rock wall, that looked climb-able, so I decided to show off in front of my family and pop up near the top of the rock.
"Look at me mom! Way up here! Are you looking? Mom, look at me all the way up here!"
I persuaded my sister to join me up here, and she was eager and able to do it. Notice landscape arch below, seen from the other side...
Scambling up this rock was awesome, and I'm glad my sister got to join me. I tried to persuade my parents to join me, and it was do-able, but they were a little reserved still (though this would have seemed like nothing compared to what would be in store on this trip).
Shortly after, we found some other rocks to explore.
Me on top of a rock. There was a good view...
The next stretch was fairly daunting to the average upstate New Yorker. There was a stretch of rock ~5-6 feet wide, with steep drop-offs to each side. My mom really showed her courage making it across.
We walked a "thin" line here. Actually not very dangerous, but mentally, something like this can be challenging...
A look at the open valley to the right of the ridge...
Next up was Double-O-Arch, two arches stacked on top of each other. This was the end of the line for our hike, at about 3 miles in.
Left: My sis and I standing in the smaller, and lower, arch of Double-O Arch...
Right: Meg and I walked through, and my sis took a pic of me near the bottom arch...
It was now time to return, and rather than take the same route back, across the ridge, we opted to take the "primitive trail", a longer trail that went down to the valley, and back to the beginning. This was a lesser marked and rougher trail, but my mom was willing to try it, rather than traverse the ridge again.
A look into the valley, from a lookout near the primitive trail...
We pause along the primitive trail here, right before a steep slick rock descent...
Definitely some primitive hiking necessary on this primitive trail...
We were worried that the rough descent would be matched by an equally rough ascent to get back to the start, but fortunately it was fairly level the rest of the way. We were glad we hiked this in reverse, and didn't have to hike up the steep slick rock.
We were relieved that the primitive trail was gentle on the 2nd half...
A triumphant Mom claims victory over the perils of the Primitrive Trail...
The whole family finished the 6.5 mile hike, a little tired, but with a sense of accomplishment. We next drove back south, and saw some of the sites we passed on the way up.
Meg, Dad, and I pose in front of Skyline Arch...
We kept driving to "Windowland", where Nick and I spent a lot of time back in May. Here there are lots of large and accessible arches.
Meg takes a pic of Mom, Dad, and me with Turret Arch behind...
Meg and I pose in front of the double windows, and Mom makes an appearance too...
Next, Meg and I decided to check out Double Arch, while my parents hung out in the car, taking a break. I'm glad Meg felt the desire to explore this arch, cause I hadn't visited this one last time either.
Right: I think this used to be a huge dome, and parts fell in, leaving the arches...
Left: Double Arch as seen from the distance...
On the way out we stop by Balance Rock, a familiar site to Nick and I.
We were ready to head back for lunch ~3pm here, with grey skies moving in...
We check out Park Ave, the last stop in Arches before departure...
We were tired, hungry, and eager to get back to the hotel. I suggested taking a couple hours off, and then heading to Canyonlands Islands in the Sky. So we got dinner (Meg and I waited way too long for a so-so buritto at Paco's), and rested up a bit.
We set out ~6pm in hopes of catching some setting sun action along the red valleys and rocks, but the cloudy skies yielded only sparse rays of light as we drove to the north Canyonlands entrance.
We caught some sunlight on these orange/red rock formations as we drove into Canyonlands...
Another familiar site, Mesa Arch. A cool .5 mile loop hike to get here. This time I viewed it in the evening...
The Grand View Lookout over the white rim canyon. Fortunately we had some sun breaking thru...
After a quick drive through Islands in the Sky, we hurried out of the park to visit Dead Horse Point, located right next to Canyonlands, in hopes of catching some sunset action, or any sun at all. But the clouds were dense, and we had low expectations. We got there in time for sunset, but the skies were dark with the heavy clouds.
A fantastic scene with the lush green Colorado river cutting through red dry rock canyon...
It was very beautiful, even in the dusk, and plenty of people were about. My dad noticed a sign for a nature slideshow starting soon, we we hurried to the ranger station, and found that we were the only people that showed up, so we got a private informative slideshow about the Dead Horse Point, Canyonlands, and greater Moab area. It was a lot of fun.
After heading back to the hotel, we readied ourselves for an even earlier start tomorrow, to go to The Needles, which was Nick and my favorite part of Utah from May.
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