Moab - Day 4

Day 4 of our Moab adventure started out with partly cloudly skies. It was looking pretty nice as we cooked breakfast and shared our stories of the previous day.
One thing that reminds me that we're definitely away from modern conveniences is when you pour ice cold water over your head to wash your hair. I play a little game with myself and pretend that I'm in a Peppermint Patty commercial. "Eating a Peppermint Patty reminds me of being immersed into a snowbank of the deepest powder I've ever skied" which is then followed by pouring water on my noggin. Aaaaaah...

The skies looked very promising, we'll have a fanstastic day of hiking and playing in Arches. I have a really cool watch that has a compass, altimeter, and barometer. Throughout our trip, I kept checking the barometer because it was pretty accurate. However, as we headed towards Arches, I commented to Vero that the barometer was dropping, even though the sky was clearing and it looked beautiful. I was thinking that maybe it was time to get my watch fixed..."what time is it when your watch strikes 13?"

We had two vehicles full of happy people looking forward to more sandstone. Incidently, the pass you purchase for Arches is good for 7 days, so we put on our sunglasses with attitude and flashed our receipt from the day before. We simply drove through acting like we're some important bigwig. Well, it wasn't exactly that way, but if I worked for TMZ, I'd exagerate to get press.

We went straight to the area for the Delicate Arch. I stood in front of the sign, carefully composing my shot when this family of kids ran right into the middle of it. Funny thing, they didn't look blind, but they all had to touch the sign and find the braile. Okay, kids have to touch stuff, so it was fine.

Can you see the ranger? Notice how the hat is the same color as the sand, very effective. Actually, I was expecting the ranger to jump up from behind the sign and say, "Welcome to the Delicate Arch...how's your arches?" This sign made me wonder, if you use the expression "gee" a lot in your conversation, does that make you a "gee-ologist"?

Okay, enough of the silliness. According to Wikipedia, here's an excerpt of the trail description:

"Delicate Arch is located at the end of a moderately strenuous, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) hiking trail from the parking area at Wolfe Ranch. Taking thirty to forty-five minutes each way, the round trip is slightly more than 3 mi (4.8 km) long and the Arch is completely hidden from view on this trail.
The first third of the hike is through rugged, brushy terrain and gains slightly in elevation. The middle third of the hike is along the face of an exposed slickrock outcrop and is strenuous due to the gain in elevation, but offers better views of the geology in the salt valley. Cairns (piles of rocks) have been placed by visitors and park staff to roughly suggest the otherwise unmarked trail to the top, yet visitors tend to wander all over the huge expanse of completely exposed sandstone. The latter third of the trail is the most rugged, as hikers have now nearly reached the "top" of the plateau. The Arch is still invisible, and the trail runs around outcrops, through washes and between stands of twisted brush and trees. The trail may be easier to follow, but meanders as parts become muddy and difficult to walk through. During the 2004 fall season, the trail clearly followed the left (northern) side of the plateau, and brought visitors along a narrow shelf nearly 150 ft (46 m) above a dry wash.

The arch comes into view suddenly around a corner in the trail and frames the La Sal Mountains to the southeast. The immediate area around the Arch offers views of the southern expanse of the park, and has unguarded cliffs plunging one hundred feet or more."

Here is Vero hauling Benjamin up the trail. With the bright sun, the hike became hot quick. We stopped several times to give Benjamin a drink of water. He even wanted to hike himself, so we each held one of his hands and he liked "flying" over the rocks and other obstacles along the way.

The slick rock on the way to the top is pretty steep. This is NOT a place to play soccer!

I was amazed that stairs were hewn out of the stone along this part of the trail. Someone said that the Indians who use to live here carved the stairs so people could make it easier to climb this trail. And we wonder how historical facts get so twisted.

This is a window that you encounter a short distance from Delicate Arch.

This is the view from the window of the Delicate Arch. Below is a bowl that a lot of people were hiking down to. One thing for sure, you do not want to trip and start falling. The lines of the colored strata are deceiving because everything is tilted at an angle...look at the horizon in the background.

I thought this trail that was cut out of rock was simply impressive. The dropoff to the left was a VERY long 150 feet down to the bottom. Some who were afraid of heights were hanging onto the wall as they carefully navigated around the corner.

This is what it looks like from the other way. The trail is on the right side of this picture. This is about the only level part of the area around Delicate Arch. Many will rest here, taking in the beauty. Our total hiking time to the top was an hour and a half, that included stops.

I have a license plate that looks just like this. The other deceptive thing about this arch, besides everything being on a tilt, is that on the other side of it is a massively deep gorge. A warning to parents...watch the little ones because they could easily trip and fall to the bottom.

Another "creative" view of the arch. By the way, while I was taking this photograph, another photographer proudly carrying the latest Nikon D3, walked right in front of me and started snapping pictures. Please, if you have such fine equipment, practice the act of behaving like a professional photographer. ALWAYS check to make sure you're not walking into someone elses picture before you start snapping away. Photographers know that good light is the key to any good photo and it can change within seconds. Enough said.

This angle of the arch reminded me of something out of Star Wars.

Another view of the bowl to the west. As you can see, the light was starting to change quickly as the sunny sky was diappearing behind the ever increasing clouds.

This is that deceptive drop behind the arch. At first, it is an easy angle and quickly gets very steep and leads to a VERY long drop. There are no barriers to stop a fall, only the bottom.

The thing I appreciate most about slick rock in photography is its reflective nature. The sun came out and lit up the shadowed side of the arch, making it look alien-like.

Those little people at the base are Vero and Benjamin. It was amazing to me that someone had climbed this arch and had pictures of it. Since then, a law was passed that prohibited any climbing on the arch. As you study the arch, you can understand why it is called Delicate, because there is little support for it as other arches have. I know it will probably be standing for the remainder of our lifetimes, but in another 100 years, who knows?

Vero and Benjamin play this game of "ready, set, go!" Benjamin simply loves to run.

Notice how well my skintone matches the Arch? I imagine this is a sign that I'm somehow spiritually connected...to a rock. Could it be my rock-hard abs? Naw.

Remember when I checked my watch earlier? Well, while looking around through my viewfinder with my 200 mm telephoto, I spotted this shiny spot across the valley. By the way, the area at the base of the rock on the right side is the parking lot where the trailhead is.

I said to Vero, "Wow, look at the shiny spot over there reflecting the sun!" She asked, "Why is it reflecting the sun?" "Because the rain made the rocks wet." "Do you think that rain is headed towards us?"

Just then, a big gust of wind hit us. Hats were flying off everywhere and headed to the bottom of the gorge. We heard thunder and large drops of rain began to land all around us. Vero wisely said, "I think we better go, fast."

The gusty wind blew the sun shade off of the backpack, so poor little Benjamin only had his hat to protect him from the rain. I took the cover and held it over him while we started down. The brisk walk soon became a jog, which turned into a run down. Along the way, the wind would kick up sand, that stung. I ended up holding onto the backpack with one hand and the cover with the other, protecting Benjamin from the wind and rain. He started crying because he couldn't see, then would push the cover out of the way. When the rain started hitting him in the face, he would cry more.

As we're running down the trail, I noticed something white go bouncing by. I ask Vero if she just kicked a white pebble, or if that was hail, she didn't know. A moment later, she said it was hail, because there was more bouncing around us. Benjamin was getting angrier by the moment, unable to see what was happening, bouncing down this trail, getting rained and hailed on. Then suddenly, there was a flash of lightening very close by and a tremendous boom. Benjamin immediately stopped crying and was quiet the rest of the run down.

When we finally made it to the bottom, Edwin and his family were waiting for us in his truck. They left the top earlier than we did because Vero wanted to feed Benjamin. Amazingly, we made it down in 20 minutes! I don't have any pictures of this, but our burning legs and lungs attested to the effort we put into getting down. Vero is the strongest woman that I have ever known. She literally ran down the slick rock with Benjamin on her back. I offered several times to switch, but she said we didn't have enough time. This will be a story that we will share with Benjamin for years to come.