Devils Garden

Moab, UT

We did it...Tuesday morning we were parked and on the Devils Garden Trail at 8:30 am. No problem this morning finding a parking place!










It's no wonder why this is a popular trail...Devils Garden area of Arches NP contains the largest concentration of significant natural arches in the world!

The first 0.8 mile of the primary trail is graveled and winds through the tall fins.


A side trail leads to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.

Tunnel Arch is actually a  double arch comprised of a larger hole towards the center of the fin and a smaller hole on the upper left. The fin in which this arch is formed is thick...this creates an illusion that it is more a tunnel than an arch.


Pine Tree Arch is enormous...it takes a few minutes standing underneath it to take it all in.

We weren't the only ones getting an early start to the day!

The primary trail to Landscape Arch is graveled and well-graded. It is a 1.6 mile round trip to Landscape Arch.

This was our first view of Landscape Arch from the main trail.


Joe and I opted at this point to walk the primitive trail counter-clockwise and save the up close view of Landscape Arch for last. 



The main trail, primitive trail, and all spur trails to points of interest is a 7.2 mile round trip hike...whew!

The first part of the trail was through sand. Views of the fins were spectacular.

 This is an example of cryptobiotic soil. It is composed of living bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, and/or mosses. Soil crusts are very important to the desert ecosystem and extremely fragile.

As we climbed higher the sand changed to slickrock.






This picture (on the right) shows the trickiest part of our hike today. This was a very steep wall of slickrock...as you can see...or can't see...it was a deep ravine...our first time for steep slickrock scrambling! Thank goodness for folks along the way...this very nice couple, Deb and Carson ( in the picture below) from Iowa gave me a hand...

Dark Angel

Spur trails lead to Dark Angel, Partition Arch and Navajo Arch.                                          

                                                          
 

Rough Mules Ear

As we peer through arch openings, we are reminded of the dynamic nature of our earth.







           

The last part of the primitive trail is on sliprock fins... up and down!

 Walking these fins reminded me of a Carpenter's song "Top Of The World"...looking down on creation. Only, I wasn't looking down too much!

It was a little scary...I couldn't see where we were headed.







It took me a minute to get myself together! What goes up, must go down!



We met a nice couple from Belgium, Katherine and Guy...Guy stood and waited for me.







Finally, Landscape Arch! Landscape Arch is the longest Natural arch in the world. It is 290 feet at its longest section.


In recent years, several chunks have fallen from it. The trail  leading below it has been closed for safety .

This was the most challenging hike we have done.

 What a WOW day!

 

 I am behind on posts...Wednesday, Thursday, and today have all been so busy. There's lots to write about!

 Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend. Welcome summer!

Y'all come back!

First Ride Through Arches NP

 Moab, Utah

We were up at the usual time on Monday morning with good intentions to be at Arches NP bright and early. BUT, I am sure you know how it is, one thing and then another and we didn't leave home until 10:00am.

This is a view of the La Sal Mountains and petrified sand dunes as we drove through the park on the main road.

Balanced rock is one of the most popular features in the park. It is located right next to the main road. Total height of Balanced Rock is about 128 feet with the balancing rock rising 55 feet above the base. 

Windows arches is also visible from the main road. There is a trail there we want to walk, but this was not our destination for the day...so we rode on.


These flowers are blooming all over the park. They are called Rough mule's ear and are in the Sunflower Family.

 Skyline Arch was the perfect warm-up trail to take and the arch is quite impressive. The trail is a .4 mile round trip hike. The arch is 71 feet across and 35.5 feet tall.

In 1940, a large block of sandstone fell from Skyline Arch and doubled the size of the arch. Boulders from the collapse remain and can be seen below the arch today.

Just after Skyline Arch, the main road ends. Our destination for the day...Devils Garden Trailhead. This is a popular hike at the park. Because of our later departure from home, there were NO places to park...we circled the huge lot twice. Glad we had a plan B!
                                             

               

Plan B...take the unpaved road through Salt Valley to the Klondike Bluffs and hike to Tower Arch. Salt Valley Road is about 8.3 miles of washboard road and is the only way to Tower Arch.

Along the way, we saw lots of Prince's Plume...

...Common Paintbrush...

...and Primrose.




If you look closely, you will see a couple who is ahead of us. The first part of the trail is a short, but steep ridge.



 The route is easy to follow if you watch for cairns...small stacks of rocks...used to mark the way.

From the top of the ridge, you have an outstanding view of the area.

Oops...notice the clouds...we didn't have a Plan C! The weather called for a 20% chance of thunder storms. As we were taking our time and enjoying the view...clouds with rain showers came rolling in!

Prairie Sunflower

 Neither one of us was too keen on the idea of getting caught in a thunderstorm and since the wind picked up, we decided to call it a day, but we do plan to go back.




 Instead of taking Salt Valley Road back through the park, we made a left turn at the trailhead and traveled on. It was a beautiful ride...and Joe stopped a lot for me to take pictures!

 There were fields of Pale Evening Primrose...oh so pretty!

Eventually Salt Valley Road was a dead end...we turned left on a connector road and ended up on Hwy 191 about 30 miles from Moab.

Despite our late departure and the weather, we still managed to have a marvelous Monday! Arches National Park is spectacular and we can't wait to explore more...

Thanks for stopping by today!

 Hope you are having a fun week...

...Y'all come back!

 

P.S. This is post  #101 for us!