Monday, September 16 – We traveled West out of Moab on Route 279 (Potash Rd.) paralleling the Colorado River for about 11 miles through the canyon mouth known as The Portal. Here we parked at the trailhead for Corona Arch. We needed to cross over railroad tracks to start our hike.
To reach the arch we hiked about an hour across mostly slickrock. There were ups and downs along the way.
We used a fixed horizontal cable to maneuver across a steep section of terrain.
Next, we came to a vertical cable and a crude-but-effective staircase cut into sandstone.
Then we climbed a short ladder to complete the ascent onto a slickrock terrace.
From there, we simply followed the cairns.
Slickrock
We walked up and around the corner into an huge amphitheater to see not one but two arches high on the canyon wall. The first arch is Bowtie Arch. A smaller but still a beautiful arch.
Not far down the canyon is our destination, Corona Arch. As we came into the amphitheater, our first glimpse of the Arch put a smile on our faces.
In order to be considered an arch, an opening must measure at least three feet (in any direction). Corona, sometimes called "Little Rainbow Bridge", is mammoth: 140 ft. high, with a span of 335 feet. It's setting is very impressive on the wall of Bootlegger Canyon.
Corona arch is a beauty! Paul's “new” favorite arch. We easily walk to and through this awesome arch. Heck, we think you could fly a plane through it! Well, a stunt pilot could.
Behind the Arch is quite a drop-off to the Colorado River and a railroad track. These are the same tracks you see when you turn off Route 191 back in Moab. We bet that is a beautiful ride for some engineer!
After spending some time photographing and soaking in the splendor of the Arch, we bid farewell and headed back down the trail toward the parking lot.
Marsha wasn't too crazy about going back down the cable. Here she is doing her famous "butt" crawl.
WOW.....what a hike!
This is a great hike….not easy, but not too difficult either.
On the way back to Moab, there are several more examples of Rock Art. Watch for the “Indian Writing” signs along the road. These are the best petroglyphs we've seen. There are 100's of animal and human figures scattered along the rock face for about 30 feet. Pretty amazing!
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!
