Arches National Park — What We Saw, What We Read

When we were originally planning our itinerary for visiting national parks, we were most excited about those in Utah. All of our research pointed to an incredible experience and our timing could not have worked out better.

We left Salt Lake City on a warm Monday afternoon in mid-October and drove southeast toward Moab. We set up our base camp on BLM land about 10 miles north of Arches National Park. The amenities were sparse (no running water) but the sunsets, sunrises, and star gazing was well worth the sacrifice. Each night afforded us a view of the Milky Way and every morning we were treated to the deepest purples and brightest reds as the sun slowly rose over the La Sal Mountains. On our first morning at camp we even awoke to a hot air balloon coming up over the western hills.

We spent our first day at Arches exploring the trails that lead to various arches in the park. Entering the park on a Tuesday morning, we were surprised by the number of people at the visitor center and at each trailhead. We aren't working right now but what is everyone else doing out there?! We parked our car near Balanced Rock and set off by foot toward Eye of the Whale Arch. Despite the crowds slowly accumulating along the roads we found ourselves totally empty on this trail. We had the arch completely to ourselves!

Next we explored around the North Window, South Window, and Turret Arches. More than 2,000 arches fill the park, formed by the seepage of water into the cracks and folds of the sandstone layers causing the eventual fissure and crumbling of the rocks. Though temperatures were in the high 60s we felt the heat of the sun on our backs as we ascended on a hike to Delicate Arch.

Our second day at Arches was spent exploring The Fiery Furnace, a collection of sandstone fins, canyons, tunnels and arches. We were hoping to take a guided tour but they were already filled for the rest of the week. Instead, we purchased a day-hike permit, watched an instructional video in the visitor center, and set off to explore the Fiery Furnace on our own. We took care to walk only on rocks or in sandy washes to avoid disturbing the fragile ecosystem and soil crust. We navigated the caves and ascended over the fins, found ourselves in dead ends and shimmying through chimneys. We scrambled over the rocks for nearly four hours and it was truly one of the most unique experiences we have had on our journey. One day we will come back and take a guided tour to see more pieces of the furnace that we surely missed. After a long morning of rock scrambling we came back to our tent, set up our chairs in the shade and read for the rest of our afternoon, enjoying the warm desert breeze.

On our final day, we explored the arches surrounding Devil's Garden. Over eight miles of hiking we were able to see Landscape Arch, climb into Partition Arch, explore Navajo Arch and make our way into Double O Arch. Each arch was distinct and mesmerizing and we found ourselves stopping to observe and contemplate our surroundings.

There is so much more to be said about this incredible park. The way the sunlight hits the multilayered sandstone, changing the intricate shadows along the folds through each hour of the day. The hues of the sunset over the hills each evening at our campsite before, one by one, stars appear in the darkening sky. We have never spent so many nights gazing clearly at the Milky Way. Even our solitary nights on the JMT were too cold for the luxury of stargazing. In Utah, when we were ready for bed we unzipped the windows of our tent and continued to gaze at the stars while we were snugly wrapped in our sleeping bags.

Taking in the view atop one of the many fins in the Fiery Furnace.

Landscape Arch, the longest arch in ANP.

Yep, that's an arch. At Partition Arch. — Yep, that's an arch. At Partition Arch.