Arches National Park December 2014

Desertrat

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Mar 12, 2012
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On the 28th I headed down to Arches for the day with my sister and her boyfriend, who have never been to Arches. We had left at 8 and got to the park at 10:30. Next time I hope to leave earlier. We stopped in the visitor center and had a look around. It is really nice inside and worth a quick look. First stop was at the Moab Fault. This had a nice view over the visitor center.



It had been some time, over ten years, since I have been to Arches. So we stopped at most of the roadside stops. Some places I don't ever remember stopping at before. Like Park Avenue, I don't think I have been to this little view before.





Next stop on our journey was the LaSal viewpoint.



We then stopped at Balanced Rock and walked around. We followed the trail around Balanced Rock.





After Balanced Rock, we drove past everything else to hike to Landscape Arch. I figured this time of year there wouldn't be very many people and up to this point there weren't. But at Landscape Arch every parking spot was taken so we ended up parking quite a ways away. And on the trail We ran into hordes of people. A lot of foreigners, some from Germany, India, and a lot of Asians. It was a elbow to elbow at the end near Landscape Arch.

This guy was eating ice as everyone took his picture.



He even followed us in.



Landscape Arch



Tunnel Arch



Pine Tree Arch



After that experience, it was starting to get late. So we headed for Delicate Arch. It was about 2:30 when we headed up. The hike in was good until we reached the ledge section of the trail. Here it is in shade most of the day and the trail became icy and slick. But with only a few slips and bruises we made it to the arch. Here there were lots of tourists waiting for the perfect shot. Luckily there weren't many standing under the arch and I could get a few pictures without anyone in it.

Wolfe Ranch



Wolfe Ranch Petroglyphs



Trail up.



Delicate Arch







After getting back to the car it was 4:30 and the sun was going down fast. So we headed towards the Window section and got there in time before the sun went completely down. Lots of people here as well.

South Window





Turret Arch



The plan afterwards was to head into Moab for dinner but we got in a very long line of cars and everyone was heading for Moab. So instead we decided to go into Green River for dinner. It was a good trip and I look forward to doing it again in the spring or fall.

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