Megan’s Take
The kids either didn’t get enough sleep last night and/or they were worn out from yesterday’s hike, because they were dragging (especially Emmett). Today’s hikes with the kids, using a combination of feet, stroller, and carrier, were Landscape Arch, Pine Tree Arch, Tunnel Arch, Sand Arch, Skyline Arch, Double Arch, North and South Window Arches, and Turret Arch. Phil also went to Broken Arch, Navajo Arch, and Partition Arch on his own, while I gave the kids extra playtime on the trails.
I really liked the Devil’s Garden trails (Landscape Arch, Pine Tree Arch, Tunnel Arch, Navajo Arch, and Partition Arch), except that there was significant whining, child-management, and mommy-mommy-mommy-mommy most of the way. And a highlight – the NPS worker cleaned out the pit toilets at the trailhead while we waited for Phil.
The smell was so foul that I literally thought I might throw up in my mouth for a moment, and yet somehow my kids sat nearby and stared at the worker/tanker truck during the whole process. The views were beautiful though.
One of my favorites was Sand Arch, because it was short but impactful – the arch itself and a really cool little “cave” off to the side that the kids had fun playing in.
We also enjoyed the Window Arches trail, because both kids had napped and had a lot of pep in their step to complete the hiking without whining – yay!
Phil’s Take
Today was all about arches. We saw quite a few, as Megan pointed out. I’ll try to hit them here in order.
The first arch we saw on today’s hikes was Tunnel Arch, so named because the wall it goes through is quite thick, which might be apparent from this picture, taking close look at the shadows.
The next arch, just around the corner from the Tunnel Arch is the Pine Tree Arch, so named because of the obvious placement of the trees. I loved how the arch could frame the background scenery for a great shot.
I hung back with the kids while Megan went to get a close view of the Landscape Arch. Once she returned, I went and saw it and the next arches by myself, because the arches beyond Landscape Arch required a steep ascent with drop offs that wouldn’t be fun with kids, especially whiny ones.
Landscape Arch looks to be the most delicate of all of the arches we saw, and it isn’t the one with that name.
In order to access Partion Arch and Navajo Arch, you have to go up to a higher level to get between the walls that contain them. The trail reminded me a little bit of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, but it really is not much.
At the top of that bit there was a rock from which I could get a shot of the Partion Arch from the same side as the Landscape Arch, though this is definitely not the best angle for it..
When I got to the top, I headed for Navajo Arch first. Along the way, I saw some cool features on the wall containing it. It looked like some sort of liquid topping that had not covered it all the way down, like you would see on a cake.
The Navajo Arch isn’t as much of a window as most of the arches we saw, because there’s a wall right behind it, but it does create an atmosphere very different from the others because of how close the tall cliffs are.
I then headed back toward Partion Arch, where I was greeted with a different angle that was much better and framed the landscape behind it.
I then returned to find Megan and the kids enjoying the pit toilet cleaning process, which looked like a blast. I hear the smell was awesome.
The next arch we visited was Skyline Arch, and I carried Emmett the whole way. He loves to be carried. This is also the first time we’ve had someone ask to get out of the way so they could take a picture with nobody in it. My experience has been that you just have to deal with it in places like this, especially given how crowded some of them are.
Next we visited Sand Dune Arch, where the kids had a blast playing in the caves and sand. The picture is above in Megan’s part of the post. They stayed there and enjoyed themselves while I hiked the 1.3 miles out to Broken Arch, which I suppose gets its name either from the debris below it or because of the crack in the middle. I assume it’s the latter.
On our way to the Windows, we stopped at the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint for an excellent panorama of the Salt Valley.
At this point Emmett was asleep so we headed to the unpaved road that heads to the northeast portion of the park. I would definitely not recommend it, because it was horrible washboard the whole way and there are portions where it gets quite bad. It’s one of those situations where you have to drive a certain speed or the road matches the harmonics in the suspension and beats you to death.
We turned around where the 4×4 road connects and headed to the Windows area. The first arch we saw was Double Arch for obvious reasons. I think this one is my favorite, because of just how big and unique it is. There’s just a lot about it that seemed interesting to me.
Right next to it is the so-called Parade of Elephants, which I had no idea had a name until writing this post, but looked awesome enough to warrant a picture at the time.
Next was the North Window and South Window Arches, which is included above in Megan’s section. As we were all sitting there underneath the North Window Arch, I noticed it was split. It doesn’t make you confident that it will be there for long.
The windows were followed by the Turret Arch, which seems to be because of the pillar on the left side of the arch. This was the last arch of the day, and the end of our adventures to Arches National Park.
Overall, I’d put Arches National Park up there with some of the best, but it is not my favorite park. We managed to see just about everything in 2 days, and I can’t see a reason to spend more, especially if there isn’t small children to account for. It was certainly 2 days well spent.
As always, here’s a gallery of all of the pictures for the day.
