Day 30. Utah's Golden Arches!

Tuesday February 7, 2023

I totally passed out so early last night I think I'm about two days behind in blogs.

I decided to work here in the hotel until checkout time and get some of it done! I’m letting go of the ‘need’ to get going into the parks around here. Writing this blog is part of my trip too and I’m going to use a lil’ discipline here because I want too. I can’t imagine the memories that’ll flood back when I read this even just one year from now…

I banged out another day of it and partook in a hefty free breakfast while I was at it. Some of the hotel "free" breakfast’s leave a little to be desired but this one had everything and I filled up on it. Partly thinking I may be in the desert for a few days and that “last meal” feeling kicked in again. Last time it was the 10,000 calorie Five Guys burgers-n-Fries! I still can't believe how caloric that was wow. Maybe when you order their food you are supposed to share the meal with four more guys? There are like six hundred fries in the bag too so it wouldn't be a problem. Actually they probably don't even count the extra fries they throw in for the total fat intake either. Did you know they also have free peanuts to munch on while you wait for your order that they cook fresh? Totally enough for you and four buddies. Oh wait. What if your buddies are girls? Five Gals Burgers...guess it could work.

The plan was to camp up in Arches National Park where the famous, or iconic arch that everyone see’s in ad’s for Moab is found. No not McDonalds. That's a different arch. And it's golden. Well, I think it's more yellow but anytime my daughters ask me if something matches in an outfit or whatever I'm totally off with the colors so it could be golden. Have they served a trillion yet? Must've by now. No stopping that number huh? It grows almost as fast as the national debt! Ok geez no politics. Stick to fries. And guys. And gals.

So I'm hoping to camp in this park and ride to the different views. I'll also get more of a scoop on the park from the Rangers at the entrance. I grabbed some supplies - five gallons of water, more food at the local supermarket including some chips and hummus (yay!) and then headed over to the park.

Park Rangers are a different breed of people than I’m used to. Just so dang friendly. So helpful! They must answer the same questions a thousand times but they do it with real genuine love for sharing their passions. It’s something they love to do!

The lady at the gate and I chatted until a line of cars started forming behind me. She would’ve talked forever with me if we had more time. Then, Camryn at the desk inside the Visitor’s Center spoke with me tirelessly also. She only recently got hired on as a permanent and they are lucky to haver her for sure…thank you Camryn!

The scoop is - there's no mountain bike riding in this park…so I’m a little bummed. The deal is to camp, and then hike to any of the different arches and rock formations on the trails all around the park. Alrighty then! The camping inside the park is on a first come first serve basis too, and it's at the back end of the park, so I headed in to get a lay of the land and grab a site for the nite.

Totally awestruck again is an understatement. The way these rocks have eroded is just beyond both imagination and comprehension. The speed limit was 25mph but I didn't go faster than 10 probably - I just couldn't take my eyes off of, well, everything! Some of these thin, sheer, sandstone walls remind me of the old western movie Hollywood store “fronts” that really looked like a town but weren't. Remember those? I know I was just in a John Wayne movie town too but these walls are thin like that and rise straight up into the sky with nothing behind them. One right next to the other. Stunning.

Then there is Balanced Rock, and not just the famous one that you'll also see in photos, but they are everywhere. Huge boulders somehow still resting atop a craggy rock formation below it. Just mind boggling, and breathtaking at the same time. Just getting near them makes me nervous, it looks like they'll fall any second lol. All around as I drive in I want to stop and grab photos but I mostly head to grab a campsite for the nite.

After finding the perfect one and leaving the $25 in a box for its usage, I figure it best to drive to some of the hikes furthest away from my site (about ten miles away) and save those closest to it for tomorrow morning

So I did, and hiked through and saw Balanced Rock, Double Arch, North Window, South Window, Panorama Point and the last was a a hike to Delicate Arch at near sunset. Incredible each one of them! The photos below give a better snapshot but to breathe these in is just something to be tasted in person!

Leaving North Window I bumped into an awesome older couple holding hands on the trail in front of me…Dale and Gemini. You know the couple that looks like they’ve been together forever and yet they still hold hands, they still cherish the relationship and the other as much as themselves? That’s the vibe I got as I walked along behind them. We ended up chatting a bit and they told me to hurry along if I wanted to get Delicate Arch in before the sun went down. She said it with that ever-lovin' mom instinct too lol. Dale and Gemini - I did make it there and hiked in and back before the sun disappeared but only by minutes...thank you for the heads up. Pleasure meeting you both!!

As I made my way to this Delicate Arch, as quickly as I could, I began to overtake an older gentleman name Yenz, I believe, originally from Germany but has lived in the US most of his adult life. He was carrying a camera and tripod and had to be about seventy. Matter of fact I think he said he was born after "the war" in 1952 in a town that had been eighty percent destroyed by shelling and the ruins were his playground as a kid. Instantly we were in war stories from just post WWII. What a memory from that era, him having lived in Germany just after all of that destruction. Godspeed Yenz!

What else can I say…but that when you get to Delicate Arch it’s just stunning! Definitely a bit more difficult hike than the rest I had just done with having to read some Cairns (little stacked rock piles to help guide) and other rock ‘arrows’ to point the way. Even some icy sections with drop-offs on one side just near the finish line that, at these heights gave my legs the willies once again. But the challenge made the view ever the more rewarding for sure. To round the bend and see this monstrous arch just denying gravity not just for me, but for the millions perhaps that have laid eyes on it previously.

Awestruck.

You have to breathe it in to have any comprehension at all of the view. Head on out to see it!

The sun is getting low and I didn’t want to traverse those icy parts back down from this Arch in the dark and I’m also hoping to have a look at the “Fiery Furnace” near sunset when the formations are supposed to be most colorful.

Unfortunately by the time I made it there I was just a little late. Sun was just falling behind the earth but I took a few photos anyway. Stunning the rock formations are. There are no hikes here unless you are Ranger guided either … it looks like you could easily get lost between the labyrinth of sheer rock walls that tower hundreds of feet upward. Have a look at the photos. I’d be lost for days for sure lol!

Time to camp!

I drove back up to may campsite and clocked myself - and in just six minutes I had the tent opened and set up. What a great system!

For dinner I had bought with me a grilled chicken burrito from a local shop in town and I had also picked up chips, cheese and a cheesy dip for my evening meal! Kinda wish I had some company during my little cocktail hour to talk about the days events with. Or even if I had some of those salty “Spa” margaritas I dreamt of last night - but I guess a little chocolate milk and water will haver to do!

The temperature began to plummet with the sun now gone and I couldn’t feel my fingers half way through the burrito lol…truth! Man that instantly desert cold feeling. No joke.

After finishing I packed all the food up so as not to attract any kind of anything that may live around here.

I made it into the tent and again had planned on typing but my bones were cold. It felt colder then the low twenties they were predicting. Maybe it’s colder here at the five thousand foot altitude? Maybe 23 degrees is colder with no humidity like this air is…not sure! Eventually I knocked off about 8:30 - ish but no blogging was ever done!

Inside

Two things actually hit me today. One I kind of spoke of earlier. I felt a little nervousness heading into a park to camp without having anyone to guide or share the load with. I"ve never been in Utah, or a camp such as this and really had no idea what to expect. Just drive our into the open desert and set up? The complete unknown… will I be near anyone (which would give me a little comfort)? Do I need to worry about animals again? Will I be able to navigate? in and then back out? All of course turned out to be unfounded as it is a National park and everything is ‘dumbed' down and paved etc. But walking into these events alone is powerful to grow through.

Second thing is - after noting someones name here in the blog and acknowledging their kindness, I want to reach out to them and let them know the post is published and they are in it! Why?

Because I want the feeling that is on my heart, the gratefulness for them... to land fully on their hearts too.

Upside

Our National Park system. If you haven’t tasted some of these give-em-a-shot. The people they hire and the meticulousness with which they maintain these parks is off the hook.

downside

Having a burrito, salsa, chips and cheese with no margaritta.

Gettin’ thirsty : )

Every which way but east

Spending there night here in Arches National Park and then after doing a few more hikes in the morning I will most likely find another area to camp in Moab.