Arches National Park

May 9-16, 2021

We’re on vacation! We do this every now and again- decide to do lots of touristy things, be in places where there are lots of other tourists, and then try to avoid them….

Canyonlands NP- long drives took us into two sections of Canyonlands- spectacular rock formations and views and less people which gave us a few quiet moments to enjoy the vastness.

Four feet, and eyes, looking towards the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers.

Moab, Utah- the Adventure Capital of the southwest and probably even further afield! This place is full of people, activities, ATVs, people, and why? to see the rock formations! We are glad to see so many people out exploring our National Parks and nature in general, truly, we are 😉 just wish it wasn’t on the days we are out here 🙂
Arches National Park has over 2000 of their own arches- however getting in to see them is a challenge. After a year of being cooped up due to Covid, this area is fuller than ever! They close the park between 9 and 10 every day, once it is full, and re-open it mid-afternoon. We met a couple that hiked to Delicate Arch by 4am and only had about 20 mins before it was bustling- 4AM!! Crazy! Our first day heading to Arches, we got to the entrance at 7:50am and had to wait 30 mins to move up the line to get in. Every parking lot was almost full at every overlook, arch and hike all the way in. We headed to Devils Garden and got one of the last parking places. We hiked to three Arches- Landscape, Pine Tree and Tunnel.

Delicate Arch, Landscape Arch and Pine Tree Arch
North and South Window Arches
Tunnel Arch, Turret Arch and Double Arch


Our second day in Arches we arrive at the entrance at 7:30 and drove right in. However, every parking lot was almost full, except a few less popular ones. We hiked to Turret Arch, North and South Windows, and Double Arch. It was not too crowded here and there was a “primitive” trail to the back side of the windows with fewer people; where we founnd a tiny arch, perhaps unnamed ( an arch only has to be three feet in height, depth or width to be an arch!)

Sheep Head which long ago was part of an arch, and the Three Gossips rumored to be looking down below upon a man


One day we took a Hummer Slickrock Trip- a few times the hummer was pitched at 35 degrees as it climbed up or down these rock formations. It is called slickrock because horses found it slippery, hummers, atvs, dirt bikes and mountain bikes do just fine…most of the time. Our driver/guide was awesome and had lots of info and tales to tell.


And- you can hike to many arches that are not inside the Park- so we headed to Corona Arch one morning, fairly early because the weather had turned HOT, into the 90s! Great hike-which included a cable railing on an edge, a ladder and a set of tiny steps cut into the rock and a cable to pull you up the steep rock. Awesome arch with Pinto and Bowtie along the way and tons of flowers in bloom. This area had a good rain storm about 2 weeks ago and many plants are able to bloom! Wilson Arch is beside the highway- just a short, but very steep climb to stand in it.

Corona, Pint and Bowtie Arches. Wilson Arch on the bottom.


Poor Rhylee’s old age is catching up with him, and so he is very content to snooze in the AC in the camper and take a couple of walks around the campground each day. But we did take him up to the La Sal Mountains and got him groomed while we were here.

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