Arches National Park
Utah, USA
Week 4 of Quarantine is almost done! I’m going to be honest and say I’m pretty burnt out from this week of exams… BUT it’s HOLY WEEK!
Easter is on Sunday and I miss going to Mass but I love that my family watches Mass together and Zooms with our extended family on Sunday mornings! So that’s kind of like my rose/bud/thorn of the week.
This week I thought I’d switch it over to Arches, mostly because the pictures are awesome and pretty funny.
Backstory (from other blogs):
My entire extended family (except for my family) had spent months planning a trip to Colorado to visit my Aunt Eileen. My family was not going…
Until the week before when my parents decided to be spontaneous and buy fights out. This set the tone for the rest of the trip which made it even more awesome and exciting.
When the entire family drove west into the Rockies to visit Hidden Lakes, we hiked it with them and then we all ate a late lunch at some cool picnic tables.
We all spread out the maps across the tables under our dripping PB&J sandwiches to figure out where to go next. My aunts, uncles, and cousins were like “eh we’re tired, let’s drive back to the ski resorts.”*
*super lame
My parents looked at the maps and realized that we weren’t that far (7 hours) from Arches National Park where they had travelled 20 years before. Of course we had to recreate the trip and the pictures they still have framed in their room!
We set out for the southwest in our little red rental car.
(Please ignore my glasses they look weird and I chose them because they look like the glasses that John and Hank Green wear and I thought it was cool.)
We arrived in the evening just as the sun was starting to set. I had done a lot of research about Delicate Arch and was so excited to hike it.
I realized we wouldn’t have a lot of time to hike it the next day and it would be super busy so I convince my parents, against our better judgments, to hike it right then.
DO NO DO THIS. It is unsafe to hike after dark (and we knew it would be dark but the time we started hiking back). In addition, as you get closer to the arch, the path gets super narrow, like one person wide, and sharply descends into a vertical cliff.
One wrong step or gust of wind and you will no longer be a happy camper. My dad, who does not enjoy heights, was not enjoying the hike and kept yelling at my brothers to stop running and stay close.
It was SUPER WINDY (as shown in the pictures). I thought the wind was going to blow my glasses right off of my face! Some people had hiked to the base of Delicate arch (the famous one from stamps and post cards), but it was too steep of a descend and too windy to actually be safe.
As we hiked back, the sun was setting and the orange glow over the red and purple rocks was amazing.
By the time we got to our car it was dark (about 9:30) and the desert was starting to cool off from a very hot day. We started driving back to find a hotel and realized that it was pitch black. PERFECT!
We stopped at a small parking lot on the side of the path and laid down on the concrete and sand. It was the perfect temperature with the cool air and the hot ground. We all laid down and looked up at the starts. There is basically zero ambient light (light pollution) so there a millions of stars!
The galaxies are visible and there can be lots of shooting stars. Since it’s the desert, the land is super flat so the stars twinkle from horizon to horizon. I am failing at describing how dark it was and the abundance of stars we saw and the amazing weather that night. It was perfect.
I guess my travel/ National Park blog should inspire you to travel places by describing their beauty and importance. As much as I try, I can never encompass the awe-inspiring scenes I’ve witness. This instance is the best example. You just have to go to Arches and experience this for yourself.
That night we were starving and the only place open was a failing Denny’s so that kind of put a damper on our trip, but early the next morning we recreated pictures at windows arch.
My family was tired of hiking but I wasn’t sure when I would be at arches agin so I dragged my family along to landscape arch.
My brothers remember this as the best meal they have ever had because my parents let them order whatever they want and they got massive cinnamon rolls.
I hope you are enjoying home cooked food as much as my brothers enjoyed their cinnamon rolls. Stay safe!