Miles Travelled: 3,101
Miles Hiked: 37.3
Current Location: St. George, UT
After Corona Arch we went back to Arches. Our first goal was to go to Tower Arch which is off of a 7 mile "unimproved" road. Some of the park brochures indicated this was simply a dirt road so we figured we would give it a try. After about 3 miles we decided to turn back because the road was so rough we felt like the truck was going to shake apart. In other circumstances we would have pushed on but with thousands of miles left to drive we thought it was best to take it easy on the truck.
After the failed drive we hiked several different trails totaling 10 miles which put us over 16 miles in two days. The most difficult of the trails led to Delicate Arch which is the most famous of the arches and is featured on Utah's license plate. The arch was incredible but it was swarming with people which made getting a good picture somewhat difficult. Here is LD and I under the arch.
There are not a lot of large animals in the park but there are some interesting birds, insects and lizards like this one.
Many of the trails go directly through the arches themselves which provide a chance for some simple to moderate rock climbing...
... or a chance to relax and have a snack and soak in all the scenery.
On of the most amazing features of the park is that you are in the desert surrounded by rock and sand and yet there are snow covered mountains all around you. The contrast makes for some breath-taking views.
Despite the fact that we had a camping reservation inside the park itself for Sunday we decided it was better to get on the road and try to use our extra day (from the cancelled rafting trip) to see Zion National Park. We left the park at dusk and headed west through Utah. Like the drive through Colorado, the views were great. We stopped at a place called Ghost Rock Canyon to watch the sunset before heading to St. George, Utah near Zion to find a motel.
