We logged 14 miles today hiking all around Arches National Park. Our first stop was to see North and South Windows, Turret Arch, and Double Arch. All were amazing and slightly different from the one before. The kids had their Junior Ranger books and were anxious to fill them out and learn about the different geology and types of structures. The advantage to doing all of these parks together, from a school perspective, is that the geology and science behind all of the different formations is the same throughout the parks. The kids are really carrying this knowledge to each place… Gabe says that the videos at each park are getting boring because they are all similar, but I call it good reinforcement;) Out next stop was the Delicate Arch. We thought we would just try and see it from the overlook since we were planning a bigger hike next, but the overlook was definitely not close enough, so we convinced the kids it was a good idea. It was certainly not a quick hike (and I got some poison ivy on my hand when I had to step off the trail with Ben to help him compose himself before continuing on...), but it was totally worth it! How this arch came to be or how it is even still there is simply amazing.
Our last stop of the afternoon was to hike out in Devil’s Garden. The first half of this trail was a wide, fairly even path, even if it did travel up and down a bit. Here we got to see the Pine Arch, the Tunnel arch high up in the wall, and the very impressive Landscape Arch. The trail under the Landscape Arch has been closed for several years because large pieces fell off, and judging by how it looks, it is really impressive that any of it is still there. The second half of the trail was much more like hiking we are used to with some rock scrambling. This was all worth it to see the Double O Arch. It felt like it was in the middle of no where and we got off the trail more than once, but walking across the tops of the fins was pretty neat. Because we got started on it a bit later than we would have liked, we didn’t get back to the parking lot until after the Visitor Center closed, so we will be back tomorrow to try and get passes to hike the Fiery Furnace and to turn in their Junior Ranger books.
Our last stop of the afternoon was to hike out in Devil’s Garden. The first half of this trail was a wide, fairly even path, even if it did travel up and down a bit. Here we got to see the Pine Arch, the Tunnel arch high up in the wall, and the very impressive Landscape Arch. The trail under the Landscape Arch has been closed for several years because large pieces fell off, and judging by how it looks, it is really impressive that any of it is still there. The second half of the trail was much more like hiking we are used to with some rock scrambling. This was all worth it to see the Double O Arch. It felt like it was in the middle of no where and we got off the trail more than once, but walking across the tops of the fins was pretty neat. Because we got started on it a bit later than we would have liked, we didn’t get back to the parking lot until after the Visitor Center closed, so we will be back tomorrow to try and get passes to hike the Fiery Furnace and to turn in their Junior Ranger books.
PB&J Count: 46 (the troops are starting to revolt)
No comments:
Post a Comment