{"id":3507,"date":"2014-12-31T21:00:25","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T02:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=3507"},"modified":"2014-12-31T21:02:25","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T02:02:25","slug":"utah-delicate-arch-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/12\/utah-delicate-arch-hike.html","title":{"rendered":"Utah Discoveries 3: Hiking to Delicate Arch at Arches National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"My<\/a>

My boys got annoyed in a hurry with my attempts for the perfect Delicate Arch photo. I was doing everything in my power to keep other people out of the shot, which was quite difficult.<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0ultimate goal in our visit to Moab was a visit to Arches National Park. The geology of the region is incredibly unique, with soft sandstone being unevenly worn away due to wind erosion. The terrain doesn’t even look like it belongs on this earth! Delicate Arch<\/a>, towering over six-stories high, is the most famous of these arches (even appearing on the current Utah license plate<\/a>, and getting there isn’t easy.<\/p>\n

All the books and websites about Delicate Arch will tell you that a sunrise hike to the arch is ultimate way to\u00a0experience its beauty. So that’s what I wanted to do.<\/p>\n

What was I thinking?<\/p>\n

After the previous night’s<\/a> horrible evening of fireworks and heat in our tents, we were too exhausted to awaken early enough for the sunrise hike. We ended up leaving the campsite at about 7:30am, getting to the trailhead for the arch hike around 8:30am.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>

At the Delicate Arch trailhead. Get there early! The parking spaces will fill up quickly. Also, bring plenty of water for everyone.<\/p><\/div>\n

The park’s website<\/a> will tell give you ample warning about the lack of shade and ample heat on this hike. There are also some lengths where you’re walking on the edge of a rock ledge. Be sure to bring plenty of water, and comfortable surefooted shoes.<\/p>\n

There are actually two ways to see Delicate Arch. If hiking isn’t your forte, there is a road that will take you to a view of the arch<\/a>, but it’s from a mile away. If you want to get up close and personal with the arch, you need to take the 1.5 mile trail.<\/p>\n

You will not see the arch until the very end. Which was frustrating to the kids, who peppered Dave and me with a flurry of “How much further?” and “Are we there yet?”.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0511\"<\/a>

And we’re off! The kids were in good spirits for most of the hike, and we welcomed the mostly cloudy conditions.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_0512\"<\/a>

Take your time and enjoy the scenery on the hike. It’s gorgeous!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSC_0517\"<\/a>

The trail is actually more crowded than these photos are indicating.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSC_0518\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0522\"<\/a>

This is called “slickrock<\/a>“. There are little piles of rocks along this trail that indicates where we’re supposed to be. There are also signs warning hikers to be extra careful on the slickrock when it’s raining.<\/p><\/div>\n

(Moab is famous for its “slickrock”, as evidenced by its famous biking “Slickrock Trail<\/a>“.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSC_0540\"<\/a>

Towards the end of the 1.5 mile hike, there’s a length of the trail on the edge of a rock outcropping. Again, you have to be careful of the trail is wet.<\/p><\/div>\n

After nearly 45 minutes of “are we there yet, mom?”, we turned around a bend and the arch came into view.<\/p>\n

As well as the line of people near the arch to get photographed with it.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0544\"<\/a>

There weren’t less than a dozen people trailing off towards the left the entire time we were at the arch. We ended up just getting our photographs from afar.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"My<\/a>

My goal was to get photos without people in the view. So folks will think I’m the only one there, right? As you can see, I failed here.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"We<\/a>

We had someone take a family picture.<\/p><\/div>\n

On the return trip, we took a brief detour to see some petroglyphs.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0603\"<\/a>

These were made by the Ute Indians.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_0605\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Was Delicate Arch worth the hike? Absolutely! Wear comfortable shoes and bring lots of water, and be sure to get to the trailhead early enough to get parking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0ultimate goal in our visit to Moab was a visit to Arches National Park. The geology of the region is incredibly unique, with soft sandstone being unevenly worn away due to wind erosion. The terrain doesn’t even look like it belongs on this earth! Delicate Arch, towering over six-stories high, is the most famous of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[565,564,560,559,563],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-Uz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3528,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/01\/utah-arches-np.html","url_meta":{"origin":3507,"position":0},"title":"Utah Discoveries 4: More of Arches National Park","date":"01 January 15","format":false,"excerpt":"After our morning hike to Delicate Arch, we elected to drive through the rest of the park because it got very warm in a hurry. It took us\u00a0about two hours to drive through the park enjoying the additional arches and geology. Here are some photos from our drive.","rel":"","context":"In \"arches\"","img":{"alt_text":"My awesome boys!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_9812-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3497,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/12\/utah-camping-in-moab.html","url_meta":{"origin":3507,"position":1},"title":"Utah Discoveries 2: Camping in Moab","date":"31 December 14","format":false,"excerpt":"We elected to camp in Moab, which might not have been the best idea. We didn't think about Moab\u00a0being at a lower elevation than the previous places we visited (Durango and the Grand Canyon), it being the month of July, or the noise we'd experience in a state that allows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"camping\"","img":{"alt_text":"IMG_9808","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/IMG_9808-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3567,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/01\/june-july-vacation-summary.html","url_meta":{"origin":3507,"position":2},"title":"June\/July 2014 Vacation Summary","date":"01 January 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Our June\/July 2014 summer vacation to the American southwest was fun and filled with National Park goodness. We are grateful for\u00a0the National Park Service's \"Military Annual Pass\" program which saved us nearly $80 in entrance fees on this trip. Here's the summary of everything we did: Drive to Durango Durango\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"IMG_9830","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_9830-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3552,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/01\/utah-canyonlands-np.html","url_meta":{"origin":3507,"position":3},"title":"Utah Discoveries 5: Canyonlands National Park","date":"01 January 15","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a few miles up the road from Arches National Park is a turnoff that takes you about 25 miles to the northern entrance of Canyonlands National Park\u00a0(the Island in the Sky District). This park offers a completely different look at Utah's wilderness, with the Green and Colorado Rivers traversing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"canyonlands national park\"","img":{"alt_text":"Canyonlands National Park is incredibly underrated. Much of the park is accessible only via hiking, biking, rafting\/kayaking, or 4-wheel drive.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/DSC_0716-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3481,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/12\/utah-driving-through-monument-valley.html","url_meta":{"origin":3507,"position":4},"title":"Utah Discoveries 1: Driving through Monument Valley","date":"31 December 14","format":false,"excerpt":"After leaving the Grand Canyon on the morning of July 4th, we set forth on an approximately 8-hour drive to Moab, Utah. We chose the route that took us through Monument Valley, which is just north of\u00a0the Utah\/Arizona border near U.S. Highway 163. The drive is gorgeous, taking us through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"arizona\"","img":{"alt_text":"This is a VERY famous view. Read on about Monument Valley.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/DSC_0366-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3903,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2015\/08\/utah-discoveries-10-golden-spike.html","url_meta":{"origin":3507,"position":5},"title":"Utah Discoveries 10: Golden Spike National Historic Site near Promontory, Utah","date":"23 August 15","format":false,"excerpt":"After a disappointing day of skiing at Park City Resort without any new snow in the forecast, our family decided to do something else the following day. We drove into Salt Lake City, had lunch at In-N-Out Burger, and then continued northeastward towards Promontory Summit to visit the Golden Spike*\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"central pacific\"","img":{"alt_text":"This is seriously out-of-the-way place to visit, but worth it if you have time in the Salt Lake City Area.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/DSC_0260-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3507"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3526,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3507\/revisions\/3526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}