Spring Break 2007 Part 3

The wireless internet we are supposed to have at this place is really sporadic. There are only 3 good places we can get wireless, in the upstairs front bedroom – by the window, in the upstairs bathroom, or on the front porch – but only if there are no cars in the driveway!

Today we started off kind of slow, not getting out of the house till about 11:30 am. But before that, Hannah and I went for a bike ride around the surrounding neighborhoods. That felt good, but I can tell I have lost some conditioning over the winter. Our first stop (and only one of the day) was the Arches National Park. I have only been there in my early days, and don’t remember it worth squat. First we stopped at the visitor center so we could register for one of the hikes to the Fiery Fireplace area. The only available hikes were for the next morning, and not recommended for kids under 5. I elect to stay with Ben and Hannah, so that we could go on a bike ride.

After this, we went into the park, which is an immediate 1,000, some odd foot vertical climb. This part itself was breathtaking, and then we motored through the park for a bit before our first stop. The scenery was amazing, and I was able to get several good photographs while cruising along, including some arches in the distance, and some in the formation stages. Our first stop was at the balanced rock. This in itself was gorgeous, with the rock formations, and the vegetation. Ben and Hannah were quite the troopers just hiking along and enjoying the scenery. After this, we went on a 4-wheel drive road back to a remote arch that we had to hike and climb to for a bit. This was about a 2 mile round trip hike and little Ben made it the entire way, climbing up rocks and everything. We stopped here for our picnic lunch. After this, we went to the Delicate Arch overlook, with another 1.5 mile hike, that also climbed quite a bit. Some more spectacular scenery, with Ben and Hannah making it the entire way!

Finally, we went to the end of the road, and hiked to the Landscape Arch, which is the world’s longest arch. This was the longest of the hikes at a little over 2 miles, with quite a bit of vertical change. The coolest part was at the beginning where the trail went between two huge vertical slabs of rock, each rising several hundred feet. Ben was getting tired by this point, so we started him out in the stroller, but he still walked over half the distance. Of course, wherever there was sand, he stopped to play in the dirt. The Landscape Arch itself was spectacular, gracefully arching through the sky. At its narrowest point, it is only about 6 feet thick. They used to let people under it, and to climb on it, but about 10 years ago, several tons of rock sheared off the bottom of the arch (which happened to be photographed by someone from Fort Collins). Since then they have had it closed off, in case more falls off, or the entire arch collapses. After this, we were pretty tired, so we came back to the condo and chilled out for a bit. We had Pizza for dinner.

In the later evening, Lalie, Robert, and I hung out in the hot tub, drinking margaritas and tequila shots, and just staring at the starts. Here in the dark night desert sky, the stars are absolutely amazing…billions of them. How I wish you could have been there to see those. The hot tub was so relaxing, at around 100 degrees. Finally, we all went to bed to get ready for the next day.