Delicate masterpieces. How they look today may not be the same tomorrow. Time, and the sculpting hands of nature created them. The same elements can change, or even destroy, them. Let man stand aside and not contribute that would lead to their destruction.
Date established: April 12, 1929, as a National Monument. November 12, 1971, as a National Park.
Date of visit: December 10-13, 2018.
Day 1. Arrival.
I arrived late at Moab, UT, and only had a chance to go to the Visitor Center to get some information from the park rangers before they close for the day. I was tired from a very long drive, and just decided to start my day tomorrow. Tonight would be spent reading the information from the park’s brochures.
Day 2. Devil’s Garden hike. Delicate Arch hike.
Left the hotel after an early breakfast for some park exploration. Excited to see the famous arches and views shared by those who have been here before.
Devil’s Garden hike.
The plan was to do the Devil’s Garden hike first. The trail provides several arches to see. Several sections of the trail were very icy and treacherous. I also had to find other ways to go over some rocks and ridges because of the icy and slippery condition. Finding the Double O Arch was the first hurdle. I had the digital map on my Avenza app, and from the tracking, it showed that I was standing right on the spot. There was just a wall and an icy trail going down – no arch! It turned out to be behind the rock wall. I had to find a way to get around the icy trail going down. The next hurdle was finding the Dark Angel. I spent quite some time going in circle looking for the spot. I gave up at some point because I just could not find the trail! I decided to go back and not do the Primitive Loop trail. I met four hikers who happened to know where the trail to the Dark Angel was. I briefly joined them, until we finally reached the view. On the way back, I did the short trail spurs leading to the other views that I have skipped on the way out.
Delicate Arch hike.
After a quick ‘lunch’ in the car, was the hike to Delicate Arch – the most famous site in the park. There was a section on the trail that was just icy. I slipped on the way back! It was just amazing to look at such masterpiece.
Day 3. Short hikes. Views.
I went to Canyonlands National Park on my third day in Moab. I left the park when the weather started to turn bad, and was happy to see that the weather was better when I reached the Moab area. Canyonlands National Park is about 30 miles from Moab downtown.
I spend the rest of the afternoon back in Arches NP. Took more pictures that I am sharing on this post.
Day 4. Departure.
A last minute decision was made the night before to go visit another park that was not in the original itinerary – Mesa Verde National Park. Off to Colorado!
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