Excruciatingly hot is the best way to describe Moab, UT. Construction was being done in Arches National Park so the hours of admittance were limited (when construction is not happening the park is accessible 24/7). The gates opened at 7am and we woke up at 6 to quickly get ready, eat breakfast and be there right when we could get in. Surprisingly, we did it! We were all motivated because as much as we wanted to explore Arches and see the unbelievable red rock formations we equally wanted to be in the pool at the peak of the heat. We drove right into the park, along the windy road that hugged the mountain’s edge. The already barren and rugged landscaped turned incredibly Martian looking.
The first trail we did was balanced rock. As we drove up to this rock we all stared in awe at this enormous rock seemingly suspended in midair. It is truly mindboggling how this huge rock sits in place on its naturally formed rock platform. Lily was very curious how much the rock weighed. Later she asked a park ranger and we were told it was over 3,200 pounds. Every angle that we viewed this structure from changed the look of it and we all were amazed as we walked the circumference looking up at the different vantage points. As we walked the pathway back to our car, Ella and I walked back hand-in-hand and stole a few more backward glances together.
We got back into the car and drove to the Double Arch trail head. When we first saw it from the parking lot it looked smaller than we would have expected.
As we walked towards it the enormity of this arch came into focus. We climbed the rocks and sat under this arch for a long while. The shade from the arch created a wonderful temperature for us to sit in comfort. We continued to keep our gaze upwards to take in the beauty and magnificence of it all while we were shaded from the hot desert sun. At times we could even feel a slight but delightful breeze. It was a very surreal feeling to see the cool blue sky through the opening with the arch spanning above you and the second arch sprawled behind you. Contemplating the ability of Mother Nature to create and preserve (and eventually destroy) such structures was something very difficult to wrap my head around.
As the time started to disappear we felt pressed to move on. As soon as we stepped off the rocks and onto the sandy trail we were quickly reminded of just how strong the sun was.
We made our way back to this trail head and walked over to the windows trail. The girls enjoyed looking for animal footprints in the sand and spotting lizards.
Just as we got onto the North Window trail a bus full of Japanese tourists disembarked and we were trying to stay together amongst the many parasol toting people. The girls have never seen people use umbrellas to protect from the sun and they could not understand why there were so many umbrellas when it was not raining. As we climbed the slick rock and got up to the incredible view provided by North Window we could not believe all the people walking on the narrow paths that lined the cliff. Because it was so crowded here we did not stay very long. The full circular opening created by the rock was interesting to see after coming from double arch.
We continued along the path to the South Window which we were fortunate enough to have all to ourselves for quite some time. We could look up through it from our vantage point instead of out. The girls noticed their voices were creating echoes and since we were again shaded from the sun we stayed here and the girls continued saying words and sounds to hear their echo and were having a blast.
When we were ready to move on we made our way back to the trail and headed down the perpendicular trail from South Window to the Turrett Arch path. As you looked back on this trail you could see both the rock openings from the North and South Windows. It almost looked like the rocks formed a pair of glasses.
Looking ahead on the Turrett Arch path you could see the almost triangle like shape this arch created. It was very pleasing to the eye. Ella took notice to the artistic shape and this became her favorite arch because of that. Again, sitting under the Turrett Arch was a nice break from the heat. There were several people who were continuing through the arch. We were not sure where that path went and it looked fully exposed to the sun so we decided not to follow in their footsteps. The feeling of awe sitting under Turrett arch returned. These structures are truly an amazing sight. There was also a sense of calm and peace knowing that you were being protected by the creations of Mother Nature.
Time was ticking and we still had a few more things we were hoping to see before the heat chased us out so we continued down the trail back to the parking lot. It was much shorter than the path we took to Turrett. It was mostly a staircase that winded down the side of the rocks to the parking lot below.
Before coming to Arches we were hoping to do the Delicate Arch Trail. Delicate Arch is the largest free-standing arch in the park. To get to it requires a 3 mile hike with a 480 ft climb along a trail with no shade. As much as we wanted to see it, the heat coupled with the length of the trail made us decide against it. But, we still wanted to make it to a viewing area that would give us a glimpse of it in the distance. We would put this hike on our list of must do’s for when we return in the future. (I was a bit relieved because there is a steepness component to this trail that had my fear of heights bubbling up in the back of my mind)
On our way over to try and see Delicate Arch we felt compelled to make a quick stop at Garden of Eden. As we got out of the car and walked over we saw a car filled with rock climbers gearing up. This was a fun little section to explore. It was several pillar like rock structures all in close proximity to one another. Lily noticed several smaller rocks off to the side and went right over to claim her spot. She started making designs with the rocks and was very content to stay and play. Ella liked this spot also because she could watch the rock climbers trying to ascend the large rock to the right of the Garden rocks. She also made some of her own rock designs. Adam stayed there with the girls and I continued on the slick rock trail. It was a few large steps up and I found a shaded covering and sat enjoying the quiet and the scenery for a bit. The rest of them eventually made it to my special spot where we all sat together looking all around us. We made it back down to their designs and the girls proudly showed me their creations.
By this point it was much later and hotter than we had planned to stay. We were all exhausted and starving (and it was only 1:30) so we went over to the Delicate Arch view point. We could see it way in the distance but that view was so far away from the actual arch it did it no justice and it appeared extremely small. There was a half mile walk to a better view but we opted against it.
We went back to the visitor center for the girls to hand in their Jr Ranger work, get sworn in and receive their badges.
As we left the visitor center Lily had to take her pictures with all of the beautiful statues of the animals out front. I made sure she didn’t touch them since they were sure to be scorching hot.
We all devoured our lunch back at the RV. Adam took the girls swimming and I made my way to the laundry room. At least this laundry room was air conditioned and had a nice TV. By this point it was late afternoon and it took me the rest of the afternoon and early evening to get all the stains treated and the load going. While I was doing this Adam was looking into the impact the Brian Head fire was having on our next destinations (Bryce and Zion). Both campsites were experiencing smoke and had air quality warnings in effect. Depending how the wind was blowing the smoke could have a huge impact. With Adam’s asthma and no desire to get ourselves into a questionable situation we opted to try and change our plans. It was nerve wracking until we figured it out since the July 4th holiday was approaching and could possibly lessen our chances of easily making a change. We lucked out and Portal RV Resort (where we were staying currently) had availability for us to stay longer and Lake Powell had availability for us to start our stay sooner. We were so relieved it all worked out. I was happy to have a couple longer stays and even though it was very hot in Moab there was so much to check out and we really liked our spot at the campsite and their pool. The landscaping was beautiful and the red rock mountain directly in front of us formed what looked like Pete’s Dragon taking a rest on top of it. (Pete’s Dragon is a childhood favorite of mine and it made me smile every time I saw it)
With our adjustments secured and the laundry going we went into town for dinner. We decided to eat at Peace Tree. The chairs were each painted a different color. We sat underneath their covered porch with the misters surrounding the edges and were able to watch all the people strolling by while we ate. After dinner we found a penny machine and the girls each chose one to add to their growing collections. Then we meandered through a few stores. Lily’s sunglasses broke and we were able to find an adorable new pair for her. We were all exhausted and after a short while decided to head back since we still had to get the laundry too. On our way into the campground we came face to face with a deer and watched as it scurried in the direction of the laundry room. The girls waited in the truck while Adam and I gathered the clothes from the dryer. We had such an active day it was easy for all of us to fall asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.
