On the 10th day of our visit to Utah, we got up early to hike in Arches National Park. Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative as it rained. We drove the scenic road in Arches to get the "lay of the land", but wound up back at the hotel. After a refreshing A.M. nap, we headed back to the park for our first hike. We started with a 2 mile round-trip warm-up on a trail named Park Avenue.
The hike is on a dry river bed(which due to the morning rain was not as dry as it usually was) with towering rock formations on either side - hence the trail's name "Park Avenue".
From our warm-up hike, we did the premier hike in Arches - the Devil's Garden Trail. This trail, over 7 miles with all its side trails, takes you past at least 7 arches including Landscape Arch said to be the longest in the world over 300 feet in length.
After passing Landscape Arch the trail gets a little tricky passing along the rib of some very steep and narrow "fins". While attempting to cross one of the fins, we got caught in a sleety downpour which made the rock incredibly slick. The storm was short-lived and we made it through to Double O Arch.
Past the Double O Arch the trail is labelled as "primitive", but it was easy to follow with a couple of tricky spots and some interesting views.
We finished our first day at Arches with a 3 mile round trip hike to the "most photographed arch in the world" - Delicate Arch
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