Arches National Park

Monday, May 3, 2021 - Moab, UT

We were up early this morning.  We want to make sure we have plenty of time to see as much as possible and we wanted to beat the crowds!  :)

Here are a couple of pictures of our drive back to the parking area for Delicate Arch.

It was a little cloudy again this morning, but we were not going to let it stop us!

The trail to Delicate Arch is 1.5 miles one way and mostly up!  We will be taking a lot of rests as we travel up the "slick rock".

Vivian is ready to go!  :)

A view looking back on the trail we have already done.  :)

The a view looking ahead.  :)

Once we were near the top of the "slick rock" I took a picture of the group.  It is hard to believe it only took us about 30 minutes.  I don't think it was a big deal for Tony and Miranda, but these old bodies did it pretty good.  :)

Vivian made it fine.  :)

And of course I had to take a picture of some pretty flowers .  :)

We are almost at the top!

The views up top are absolutely worth the hike up!

Everyone was taking turns to get pictures under Delicate Arch and soon it was our turn.  We took lots of pictures under the arch!  :)  First up was Patsy and I.

Next was Mike and I.  :)

Now it is Tony, Miranda and Vivian's turn.

Here is a view of Delicate Arch from the side.

And a couple of pictures of what it looks like on the other side.  It gets very steep very fast.

Soon it was time to head back down, so we could do some more exploring.  This pictures gives you an idea of how narrow the path gets in spots up close to the top.

Part of the trail is easier, but it is only a short distance.  :)

Then I took a couple more pictures of some flowers.  :)

We were real glad we got here early.  By the time we got back down the parking lot was full and they were only letting cars in as cars were leaving.

The next trail we took was Sand Dune and Broken Arch Trail.

It says Sand Dune Arch Trail is only 0.2 and Broken Arch Trail is 0.6, but we found this trail to almost be harder because of the sand!  And by late morning it started to clear up and warm up.  :)

We soon made it back to Broken Arch.  You can see how it got it's name.

Then of course we had to take pictures of us under the arch!  :)

Then we got caught having a little romance under the arch.  :)

Here are some of the views of the area!

And some more flowers.  :)

And the trail back to Sand Dune Arch.  We missed it on the way to Broken Arch.  More sand!

Tony found a crevice to climb up.  :)

Here is Sand Dune Arch.  It was hard to get a picture without kids playing in the sand under the arch.  :)

Miss Vivian decided to climb up on this rock so Grandma could take a picture of her.  :)

But her dad was not very far behind her.  :)

Now Tony and I found a crevice.  :)

Vivian taking a break.  :)

After this hike we stopped for a quick bite to eat for lunch.  We found a nice picnic table and eat a little and rested a little.  :)

After lunch we went to Windows Trail, another 1.1 miles.

This is Turret Arch.  

The only picture under the arch taken was of Tony, Miranda and Vivian.  Vivian was asleep for this one.  :)

The view on the other side of this arch was spectacular!

The last arch we hiked to today was double arch.  Mike and I cheated, I had to use the restroom, so Mike waited for me, then we drove the car down to the next parking lot, while the rest of them walked.  :)  I think we all ran out of gas by this time, because the only person to really explore this one was Tony.

It was not a very long trail, but it sure did seems that way.  

This rock formation looks like an elephant.  :)

By the end of the day we were worn out and according to my Fitbit we walked 27,304 steps or 11.39 miles!  Oh my, now I know why I am worn out.

After dinner Tony and Miranda went for a ride on their One Wheels while Grandma, Papa and Aunt Patsy watched Vivian.  At first she was not very happy to be with us, but soon Papa and Aunt Patsy had her smiling.  :)

It was another wonderful day!