THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

Friday, September 13 – We returned to Arches NP EARLY this morning. We were in the Park just after 7 a.m., and it sure paid dividends. We were here to hike the Devil's Garden Trail. Devil's Garden contains the highest concentration of arches in the world, among them is Landscape Arch, a slender ribbon of stone longer than a football field.

The hike out is gorgeous.

This is the most popular trail in the park. From the parking lot to Landscape Arch is only a 1.6 miles one way. The trail is very easy but not a stroll.

Since we were early, we certainly avoided the inevitable crowds. As a matter of fact there was only one other couple on the trail when we viewed Landscape Arch. We were DELIGHTED by the serenity and solitude.

Do not miss the beauty of this arch.
 

Landscape Arch is the longest natural arch in the world. This is Marsha's favorite arch.

At its thinnest section, it is only 6' thick.

On our way back to the parking lot, a crowd, consisting of a bus group, was heading to Landscape Arch. Get there BEFORE 8 a.m. if you want to avoid the crowds!

There are two trails off of the main trail leading to Landscape Arch. On our way back, we hiked out to Pine Tree Arch which was Paul's favorite because we could easily walk up, touch it, and enjoy it up close and personal.

There is little Paul on the left-hand side.

Looking up.

About a quarter of a mile from Pine Tree Arch is Tunnel Arch. Tunnel Arch is actually a double arch comprised of a larger hole towards the center of the fin, and a smaller hole on the upper-left.

We enjoyed all of these arches immensely.

We continued to explore more of the 2,000+ arches. We will show you more of them in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.

 

FISHER TOWERS…ALL ABOUT THE HIKE

Thursday, September 12 – We headed about 20 miles East of Moab on SR-128 along the Colorado River this morning to hike the Fisher Towers Trail. (Reminder…you can click on any photo in any post to see it up close and personal.)

We hit the road by 7 a.m.

We traveled a dirt road about 2 miles off SR-128 to reach the trailhead.

There it is.

Courtesy of Summitpost.org

We had to wait out a short rain before we could begin our hike. We also got sprinkled on twice during the hike.

A moderate 2.2-mile (one way) hiking trail took us along the base of the towers and spires to a scenic overlook. The trail is well marked in most places by piles of rocks called cairns. We soon began to rely on these markers to find our way among the washes, across slick rock, around the curves and up and down over the rocks. This trail has just about anything we have ever met on a hike.

Ledge walking

Steep up and down grades.

Easiest part.

Through the wash.

At one point we descended a metal ladder for about 10 feet. Here we couldn't see a cairn and walked down the wash through some muddy clay before we realized we must have taken a wrong turn. After back tracking we found our error. At the base of the ladder, we should have moved UP the wash.

Marsha wasn't too thrilled about this part.

After hiking about an hour (including “Kodak Moments” for photos), we reached the base of Titan. The tallest of the towers at 900 feet. We were hoping to see some rock climbers on the towers but none were found.

Next to Titan is Ancient Art rock, a skinny tower. This tower was recently featured in a Citibank commercial. A young lady is pictured standing atop this monolith modeling her new shoes (climbing shoes not high heels), and new nylons (ropes not hose). Cute!

At trails end you reach the base of Fisher Towers. This area is called the saddle, a peninsula, 5430 feet above sea level. What a wonderful hike. One of our favorites. This trail is rated moderate on most of the sites on the Internet. We totally agree.

If you plan to hike this trail, wear good hiking boots. And DO NOT do as these people did.

 

We wished we had time to see how long it took them until they turned around. This photo was taken about 100 yards from the start of the trail.  Some people are just down-right dumb!

Just so much beauty on all sides.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.

CANYONLANDS

Wednesday, September 11 (continued from yesterday) - From Dead Horse Point State Park, we drove down the the road to Canyonlands National Park. The American the Beautiful pass was accepted here, so the $10 entrance fee was waved. What an amazing government program. Can't believe it hasn't been eliminated yet!

When we were here a few days ago, it was raining. Today, we drove the Island in the Sky road around the Park. We continued our hiking marathon by doing  the short hikes to many beautiful sites.  First stop the Grand Point Overlook. There is a one mile walk to the rim.

Buck Canyon Overlook.

Candlestick Tower Overlook

Green River Overlook…Elevation 6000 ft..

The next awesome site was about a mile round trip. Don't miss it!

That was enough hiking for one day!

We have several more hikes and a zillion more pictures to take, so check back and see what good weather and awesome scenery we will report on!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!