Desert for Days

As you will most likely find, 4 to 5 AM wake up calls became a trend for our trip. Before starting the road trip, I had prioritized one hike in Moab, Delicate Arch. But the catch was that I wanted to hike it before the crowds, for sunrise. I read several other blog posts about how insanely crowded the arch can get, as Arches National Park is a very heavily trafficked park, especially Delicate Arch. That being said I convinced Wilson to wake up early to go hike Delicate Arch. We woke up around 4:30 AM to start our hour plus journey back into the park and up to Delicate Arch. We were a little late for sunrise, but got to see the whole park light up on our drive through.

Although we missed the actual sun rising at Delicate Arch, we still made excellent time and got the arch basically to ourselves, after the professional photographers left. We ended up being really happy with our timing, we were able to stand, sit, and jump under the arch, without anyone around or feeling like we were interrupting anyone's photos.

After hiking back from Delicate Arch we made our way to The Windows Section where we hiked to Turret Arch and the North and South Window Arches. Our favorite from the trio was the North Window Arch, where we sat and looked out at Turret Arch and the rest of Arches National Park.

Across the parking lot from The Windows is Double Arch. Double Arch is the tallest arch in the park. Boulders scatter the ground underneath Double Arch making the scramble beneath the arches an adventure for everyone.

After what felt like a day full of activities and arch viewing in Arches National Park we left the park to go find some lunch in the town of Moab. We then started our drive south to our next destination. . .but again not without a detour! After hearing about how expansive Canyonlands National Park is, we decided to drive into the park from the southern entrance towards The Needles District, through what is known as Indian Creek, a crack climber's paradise.

Unlike the vast canyons in the Island in the Sky District, The Needles District is harder to access and the canyons are less prominent as they are replaced by sandstone spires. We spent about an hour exploring the easily accessible hikes and viewpoints. Although we did not get close to the “needles” we saw their beauty from afar and cannot wait to go back and see them up close! Our quick trip included stops at Wooden Shoe Arch, Big Spring Canyon Overlook, Pothole Point Loop, and Cave Spring Loop.

By far our favorite stop was the Cave Spring Loop where there is a preserved old cowboy camp and petroglyphs from native peoples. People have been drawn to this area of overhung rocks because of the shelter and seep springs. These springs are formed by water that travels through the sandstone rock and then seeps out the side forming pools. We walked below the cliffs and took the loop up and over the rocks via ladders. The loop’s unique features and views were by far our favorite part of the afternoon.