The Amazing Delicate Arch

May 17, 2009 22:16 by author

6/2/2008

My first visit to Arches National Park. I had seen some pictures over the years and while it looked interesting, there was nothing especially alluring that made me feel it was a must visit. But, like every National Park I have ever visited, they are National Parks for a reason - they are all incredible, each with its' own look and feel and atmosphere. And I would go back to each one in a minute.

The first formation you come across, Park Avenue, is simply astounding in its' sheer size alone.

There are a whole bunch of wonderful and crazy rock formations, like Balanced Rock.

And Double Arch.

But Delicate Arch is a whole level beyond. It's one of those natural wonders that must be viewed from every angle, studied and absorbed over several hours.

Fortunatley for me, Jim had been here before and took me to the Delicate Arch viewpoint first. This is intended to be a short walk to see a far away view of the arch, but Jim and I turned this into an extended adventure that was well worth it and provided great perspective as the day wore on. Start scrambling up the slickrock from the viewpoint and go as far as you can toward Delicate Arch. You'll eventually be focred to stop by a large, beautiful chasm that seperates you from the arch. You'll have views like this.

And this

There are sort of three long fingers of sandstone that you can keep walking up - we took the one in the center - all the while taking you higher and higher, and giving you great views of not only Delicate Arch, but a fabulous 360 degree look at how awesome the area is.

After spending about an hour enjoying this far away vantage point, it was time to greet the arch up close and personal. The trail to Delicate Arch is a fairly steep climb up some nice slickrock - is there any other kind of slickrock really? It takes about 30 minutes. What's kinda neat about this hike is that you have no view of the arch on the way up. You come to this turn in the trail, and notice that the landscape to your left is fantastic as well.