Our Moab Adventure

We have been very goal-oriented this year trying to accomplish all of Eric's 25-by-25 goals before his 25th birthday in December.  One of his goals was to hike to Delicate Arch so we have been tentatively planning a trip to Moab all year.  We initially planned the trip in June with my parents, but it was the week after Jake's wedding and the trailer was having issues, so we decided to postpone it.  I hate hiking in the heat so we didn't want to go to Moab during the summer.  This week is Eric's fall break so we decided it was the perfect weekend to go!

We left early Saturday morning, arriving in Moab around noon.  Once we got there, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and set up camp.  This is our first-time tent-camping alone in our marriage. Ironically, the weekend before we got married we went tent camping with my family at Otter Creek and had a wonderful time, but we have never been tent camping with just the two of us.  Fortunately, I have the best parents ever and they let us borrow their tent, cots, and sleeping bags.  It was awesome.  We set up camp and then set off to hike Delicate Arch. 

This hike was supposed to be one of the more difficult hikes in Arches, but I didn't find it terribly difficult.  Although I imagine in the summer it would be pretty miserable - there is absolutely no shade.  It was plenty warm this time of year, but it wasn't terribly uncomfortable.  The most difficult part of the hike is hiking straight up a rock surface.  We totally rocked it (no pun intended).  We made it all the way to the arch without having to take a break.  We stopped and got plenty of pictures before heading on to our next adventure. 



At the top of the Slickrock - we made it!

Delicate Arch

Indian Petroglyphs at the start of the trail

The next hike we planned was to see Tower Arch.  This one was one of my brother's favorites so we were going on his recommendation.  Unfortunately Jake always goes to Moab in a Jeep or a Truck. We went in our little Honda Civic.  The gas mileage on the Civic was amazing (34 MPG baby!), but the drive to Tower Arch is unpaved and the cute little car is not made for off-roading, so we didn't make it very far.  We instead went and saw some other arches including Skyline Arch, Sand Dune Arch, and Broken Arch.  Arches were a lot different than we expected - most of the roads go straight to the arches so you get out of your car, walk a couple hundred feet, and there is an amazing arch.  It was cool to see, but not as much hiking as we thought.

Skyline Arch

By this point, we were pretty tired so we headed back to camp, changed clothes, and went into town to get dinner.  We decided on Zax Pizza.  It was delicious!  Eric and I both got the pizza buffet and there were so many different kinds of pizza that they were constantly rotating out.  It was really fun.  We wandered around town through some of the shops before heading back to camp.  We were really tired and it got dark pretty early so we went to bed around 8:30.  We both thought we would get up when the sun came up, but before we knew it, it was 8:30 this morning!  

We woke up, took down camp, and headed back into Arches.  Our plan for today was to hike Devil's Garden.  This is the most difficult hike in arches and it's 7.3 miles long.  It was such a fun hike.  The start of the hike is pretty easy - I actually told Eric that I didn't even count it as hiking. It was more of a leisurely stroll to the Landscape arch. We did see some stunning vistas along the way, however. 

It was SUPER windy today in Arches, but it was nice because it was very comfortable for hiking weather.  Landscape Arch was one of the cooler arches in the park.  I was amazed when we saw it because it almost sneaks up on you, but once you see it you can't take your eyes off of it. 

Landscape Arch

Just past Landscape Arch, we went to Partition and Navajo Arch.  Both of these arches were really fun.  Partition was one of my favorites because looking through the arch was like looking into a postcard.  It was gorgeous.  Navajo Arch had a Christmas Tree and Christmas is almost 2 months away!  I count down to Christmas almost all year long because I love it.  It's my absolute favorite time of year.  



Partition Arch

Navajo Arch

After Navajo and Partition, the Trail became much more difficult.  I've never been on a trail quite like that before - we were constantly climbing up and down rocks.  It was awesome!  Definitely one of the most fun hikes we have done!  We had an absolute blast.  There were sections of the trail that were entirely on rocks and if it weren't for Cairns there would be no way to see where the trail was. However, the views from the trail were simply stunning.  We kept saying it felt like we were on top of the world. 

A Cairn collapsed so I fixed it.  It was my first Cairn

Private Arch

Once we finished the trail, we went to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch before calling it a day.  Both of the arches are a short way from the Devil's Garden Trailhead.  They were both cool arches. 

Pine Tree Arch

At this point, we were very tired and wanted to get home so we got in the car and headed back! Overall, we had a great trip and are definitely planning on coming back to Moab sometime next year.