Day 67-68 – Arches National Park

Day 67 – Arches National Park

Last night we made it to within a two hour drive of Arches National Park. It was a very chilly night indeed, the temperature plummeted to -6C and we woke up to ice on the inside of our windows. Fortunately, with our blanket and two sleeping bags, we were kept just warm enough.

Yesterday we had a revolutionary idea… PANCAKES!!! We’ve only ever cooked muesli for breakfast but yesterday we noticed that we’ve brought a frying pan with us for 14,000km and not yet used it. In Walmart, we picked up a box of pancake mix along with the obligatory bottle of maple syrup. On arrival in Arches, we drove straight to the campground and began frying. We were lucky to get a camp site as there was a sign saying “campground full” due to it being Thanksgiving long weekend. We even were left a big pile of fire wood by the previous inhabitants.

With our pancake cravings satisfied, we set off to explore the park. Arches National Park has the highest concentration of natural rock arches in the world. These are made of sandstone and are formed as the result of tectonic action combined with millions of years of erosion.

Our first stop was Delicate Arch, the most famous arch in the park. This is the symbol of Utah and appears on Utah’s license plates. It was a very impressive arch and pretty busy, with many people hiking the trail along the rock. Next, we went on a hike that took us past Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch and Tapestry Arch. This trail took us down some pretty narrow, steep crevices in the rock and across open meadows of cactus and desert shrubs.

With our shoes full of sand, we headed back to the van, made our campfire and cooked dinner. As the temperature plummeted and with pasta in our bellies, we had another excitement waiting for us… SMORES!!! Viki has never had smores before so it was especially exciting for her. We roasted marshmallows, placed them between graham crackers with a slice of Hersheys chocolate and chowed down.

Day 68 – Arches National Park day 2

After another freezing night with temperatures again down to -6C, we begrudgingly got out from under our warm blankets. It was another morning of pancakes as they were such a success yesterday. Breakfast and coffee consumed, we departed the campsite for the biggest hike in the park.

Starting at Devils Garden Trailhead, the hike took us past many, many arches. Landscape arch was the first, which is a very thin arch that partially collapsed in 2009. The trail went along exposed rock fins, where we had beautiful panoramas of the desert as well as the La Sal mountains in the distance.

Finishing off with the hike, we took a quick stop at the visitor center where we stamped our passports. We skipped the visitor center yesterday as we were racing to get a campsite before anyone else. We then set off on the road again and drove a couple hours past nightfall, had dollar menu McChickens again for dinner to save time cooking, and slept in a rest area in rural Utah just passed Salt Lake City where we caught a glimpse of the Mormon Temple.