Delicate Arch
April 9
Delicate Arch
Trailhead: Delicate Arch Trailhead, Arches NP
Distance: 3.1 miles (easy)
Logan and I tell each other a lot that we have a good life here in Colorado, and this particular hike is this statement epitomized. We drove 4 hours in the middle of the night to check into a hotel, use 4 bottles of shampoo and conditioner each, crash and consequentially sleep through 3 hours of alarms, and rush to hike to Delicate Arch when it was most crowded. It was an adventure in the best sense of the word and I'm always grateful to do things like this with my favorite human.
The west will change you if you let it.
We went to Arches and Canyonlands last June for my birthday. Moab has been on my mind ever since that trip - it was one of the most otherworldly places I have ever been and the town itself is the best kind of quirky adventure desert oasis. I have been wanting to go back, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity when we realized it existed. A 10:30 am, bad-lighting, tourist-inundated hike that made my heart so happy.
We made it to the top impressively quickly (for us at least), and sat on the side opposite of the Arch. I think one reason I like coming back to places like this is that I don't feel this urge to "capture" it the way I do at first. I have those moments, now I get to create new ones (without having to deal with tourist lines) that focus on simply looking at the view.
Bonus Picture: this guy took all his clothes off and posed in his underwear! (Meanwhile, I have gloves and my winter coat on...).
We knew we had a long drive ahead of us, and a lonely kitty cat, so we didn't linger at the arch for too long. We quickly headed back down to the trailhead and got on our way.
Pro Tips: Arches NP has road construction happening right now (2017). This means a few things for the summer tourist season: 1. The campground within Arches is closed. No one can stay overnight in the park. 2. The roads within the park are closed nightly, Sunday-Thursday, from like 8:00 pm to 7:00 am. If you're trying to go for stars or sunrise, plan your trip so that you hit on a Friday or Saturday.