The Great Catch Up: Arches Day 4

Last day in Moab. Last day to play monster chess at the RV park: 

Last day to go up and down the cool ladder to your "room":

Last day to swim in the little pool:

Last day to see one of the most photographed arches in the world! Here we are at the trail head:

The hike to Delicate Arch is about 3 miles round trip with an elevation gain of almost 500 feet. Spring seemed to be the perfect time to do this because of the warm (not hot) sun and cool air. I can't even imagine doing this desert hike in the heat of summer! It is a very exposed trail, totally unidentifiable without the cairns everywhere, and feels pretty long when you're just going up and up and up. Rachael is still happily skipping along with Elizabeth at this point:

Still happy . . .

 . . . but it didn't take long for her to get up in that backpack:

I loved this part of the trail. It was like walking on the side of a miniature moon:

Looking back:

The last leg of the trail runs along this little ledge with a rock wall on your right, and a steep drop to your left:

Out of the blue the path opens up on the right (where you see the other people in the picture below), and then drops down into this massive bowl overlooking I don't know how many acres of land, and right smack dab in the middle of that "bowl" is Delicate Arch. The few pictures following the one below are the best I could do to give you a feeling for the scope of this unbelievable place.

See the arch? This picture was actually taken further back on the ledge through another small arch that looks into the bowl from the far side. It's too hard to explain. Just plan a trip to Arches, and stay with us on your way! 

Down inside the bowl looking back at where we came in:

And there it is. I would love to see a time-lapse movie of this guy being formed over thousands (millions?) of years:

To the left of the arch is a "ledge" that appears to drop off into the abyss. I just about had a heart attack watching Will walk nonchalantly over the edge. Everyone got a kick out of my reaction and had to go jump overboard too. Of course, it wasn't dangerous, but can you blame me? Look at this:

It looks dangerous, right??? 

Back to Delicate Arch:

This sign was at the trailhead:

 . . . but not everyone got the message, because this family was having a full blown reunion under there. After a half an hour I finally asked them (nicely) to MOVE IT!

Our unpolluted picture:

Then a little lightbulb went on in my brain and I realized a better place to stand for a picture anyway:

This spot must be amazing at sunrise and set:

The arch under the arch:

Time to head back . . .

 

See the profile of the wolf in the rock?

Native American hieroglyphics:

The End. (I'm tired. It's late. I didn't make dinner tonight. Today was like yesterday. Too much to do. Not enough time. Shouldn't be blogging. How do people do this regularly? How and why do people spend so much time shopping? I spent a good chunk of my afternoon looking for two stupid lamps and still came home with something I don't like. Did I mention I don't like shopping? I want a personal shopper and interior designer. Will you be my personal shopper and interior designer? It bores me to tears. Stuff and Fluff. I have too much else to do. Like blog. What am I doing? You should see my to-do list for this week. It's ridiculous! Like this paragraph. I'm done now . . .)

What did I learn from this trip? I need a wide angle lens for Christmas. Bad.