September 11, 2003—Hiking Arches National Park

With all due respect to the significance of the day, we decided to hike the Devil’s Garden trail in Arches since the weather has cooled to the mid seventies. It has rained some in the past couple days and nature’s force became apparent as we traveled over dry washes, dampened to three or four feet height, probably by raging flash flood waters the day before.

Devil’s Garden is at the end of the road in Arches with lots of parking. Why became apparent after we finished our hike at 11 a.m. and found every inch of parking taken by cars, bicycles, motorcycles, and RVs. If you’re going to do this hike, go early, it’s very popular. It starts out beside a cascade of fins of sandstone, traverses up hill and down hill and finally arrives at the object of my desire—Landscape Arch. This is the world’s thinnest arch; in fact, in 1991 while several people were sitting below it, they heard loud popping and cracking and 180 tons of rock gave way from the underside, making it even thinner than before.

                                             Into Devil's Garden

                                                    Hoodoos and fins

                                                                          Landscape Arch, world's thinnest

Marc and I managed to make it about 1.3 miles along the trail to several arches, scampering up dry washes, the peachy colored slickrock, and sand encrusted boulders to arrive at one of the best surprises of the entire trip. You come upon Navajo Arch from the north and it startles you with its sudden appearance and smallness. Then, as you step farther along the trail, it opens itself up to you, and “wallah”—it’s like you’ve stepped in to a Japanese Shinto secret garden. The miniature tree, the pool of water, the dead branch.

            Navajo Arch                                     Marc at Navajo Arch

                                               Wall Arch

Taking a break from the hike, we clamored like goats to a high viewpoint of projecting fins to find a breathtaking view of the Salt Valley.  I don’t do well with heights, and this rock outcropping projected above the surrounding countryside at least 100 feet in the air above a bench of ground, which then further dropped away to the valley. It was all I could do to take these photos.

                                 From the heights of the fin, Salt Valley view