So yesterday we woke up at ¡¡¡5 in the morning!!! so it wouldn’t be too hot when we hiked. The sun came up on our way to Arches National Park. We just about got the last parking space for the hike that we were doing! So we started off, not putting on sunscreen because by that time it was only about 6:30. The path was pretty easy to follow, winding back and forth over a hill. Once we got past that part, we saw the real.challenge. A huge mountain of slickrock, as it’s called, loomed before us. The sunlight was slowly gaining on us, and people were already heading down past us. I can’t imagine how early they had to have gotten up. After summitting the slickrock mountain, we continued on the trail, sometimes walking on a narrow path carved into the side of a cliff. We passed an arch that wasn’t the one we were heading to, called Frame Arch. It was a little climb up, and we decided to hit it on the way down. Around the corner we came upon a stadium-shaped valley in the rock and on one side we saw Delicate Arch. This arch is probably the most famous arch in the park, because it’s on the Utah license plate. We sat down on a wall of rock and ate a snack. Then Grace and I walked around the lip of the valley to take pictures next to the arch. Daddy took pictures for maybe 3 different groups of people before Grace and I climbed up. Then the rest of the family came around and someone took our picture.
We went back to our spot on the other side and put on sunscreen, because by that time the sun was beating down relentlessly.So Grace finished taking pictures and we had someone else take another picture of us and then we set off back toward the parking lot. Grace, Noah, and Daddy stopped at Frame Arch and took pictures, while Claire, Mommy, and I kept going. We started playing 20 questions and Claire and Mommy guessed. I fell before they could finish guessing, and Claire went ahead. I sat for a minute because I twisted my ankle and didn’t know if I could walk, but I was fine. Mommy eventually figured out that it was Ray the firefly from Princess and the Frog. We met up with Grace and Daddy and Noah at an offshoot of the trail that led to some petroglyphs (pictures carved into rock).
We went to the bathroom and got into the car, then headed to another part of the park. We got out and walked a little ways to Double Arch, which is exactly what it sounds like. We climbed up and around in there for a while. Claire and Noah went really high up and Mommy and I sat right in the circle of the second arch. Then we walked over to North Window and Turret Arch we climbed around in those too, then headed back to the car. We ate a snack on our way into Moab, then dropped off our laundry. We found a cool ice cream place and then walked around for a little while, since we had to pick up the laundry at 2. After we had looked in all the shops we wanted to, we sat and read in the shade. Then we picked up the laundry and went back to our house on the ranch. We spent the afternoon relaxing, some of us taking naps and some taking showers. At 7 we left to eat dinner at Miguel’s Baja Grill.
The food and service were extremely good. With stomachs full to bursting, we drove home and got into bed.
I left a lot of little things out, but yesterday was a really fun day and I’m sad to be leaving Moab tomorrow. Thank you to everyone reading (and hopefully enjoying) the blog!! Stay tuned for more posts soon!!
Comments: