Arches National Park

Hello, friends!  

It has been another week, another location for us.  After our time in northern Utah, we traveled south to the Moab area.  We have seen enough photos and heard enough recommendations to know that this stop was a must in our travels.  

I typically use the day after our travel days to make plans and get a lay of the land.  One useful trick I have learned is to also use this day to do my big grocery shopping.  It sounds like a small thing, but driving into town for groceries is a great opportunity to do some recon.  You quickly get a feel for the atmosphere, which amenities are close by, and which places are more popular to visit.  The day after arriving in Green River, the kids and I drove into Moab to do our shopping.  

We decided en route that we would stop over at Arches National Park on our way.  We only planned to pick up Jackson's Junior Ranger packet and possibly drive a bit into the park, but ended up stopping and doing a short hike at one of the stops.

The Windows trail is a popular stop in Arches NP, due to its close proximity to the entrance as well as its ease in navigating.  One might classify this as a walk rather than a hike, though there are a few areas with loose rocks and moderate inclines.

The Windows are breathtaking to see--anyone can appreciate their beauty.  I do recommend watching the video at the Visitor's Center if you visit.  The video gave us context and an appreciation for what wonders the arches are!  This is one of those sites that it would be easy to see and say, "Yep, those were big arches," and not really grasp what it took to form them and how fragile they are and how that arch very well may not be there the next time you visit.

We saw 12 arches on this drive (out of 2,000), 8 lizards (Jackson is the lizard spotter), and so many different faces, statues, and images "carved" into the sandstone by erosion.  Megan said it was like when you look at a textured wall in a house or up in the clouds and you see so many different things.  So we had fun seeing what pictures we could see in the rocky landscape.

Useful info for visiting:  

1.  I had pretty great Verizon service everywhere we went in the park.  We were able to check in with Jeff several times so he wouldn't worry.

2.  Pretty much the entire park is under some kind of road construction.  Lots of machinery, trucks, and cones along the drive.  Not what you're hoping for when you visit a park, but they have to do the maintenance sometime.

3.  There is no coverage here, and temperatures can get hot, even in May.  Bring sunscreen and as much water as you can carry, especially if you're planning to do a longer hike.

Windows is a smaller site, which I liken to Mather Point at Grand Canyon.  Like Mather Point, it's close to the entrance, it's easy to get to (short, pretty level, etc), and it's heavily populated.  I had guessed that this would be the case, which is why I went ahead and took the kids by myself.  Jeff isn't a fan of the more crowded areas, so I knew he wouldn't miss this.  The hike that we are planning for our next visit is the big kahuna, a lot like the South Kaibab trail that we did at Grand Canyon.  I'll do a separate post for that hike, Lord willing.  :) 

This was a great afternoon stop!  Whether you're traveling to Arches for an extended stay or only have an afternoon for discovery, Windows is a great way to enjoy the wonder of southern Utah.