Day Five: Monday, June 19, 2017
After seeing Delicate Arch and all of the people who were out there looking it up close and personal, I knew we needed to do the same. The hike was three miles, which was further than we’ve ever hiked on one trail, and it was considered strenuous, but we had visited Walt Disney World and walked like 13 miles a day there, so I figured we could manage three miles. We were going to find out, but first, it was time to pack up camp!
Up the Creek Campground
Our campsite at Up the Creek Campground in Moab had been pleasant both nights of our stay. Oddly enough, it is pretty quiet for a tent campground in the middle of a small city. It’s not a cheap tent campground, by any means, but there is something unique about urban tent camping, not to mention the free hot showers, that draws me back there time and time again. It’s like a little tent camping oasis with shade and showers, both of which are tough to come by in the red rock desert around Moab. We were up at the crack of dawn to take down the tent, loaded up our garden cart to haul everything out to the truck, and were ready to roll at 6:45am!
Delicate Arch Trail
We entered the park and drove straight to the parking lot for Delicate Arch, which had plenty of parking spots at 7:30 am. I had read the warnings about the need for bringing plenty of water, so we loaded up my backpack with all of our water bottles and were ready for the trail. We should really go back and do this one again from a more experienced perspective, but at the time, this was the most adventurous place we had ever hiked. I was excited to see Delicate Arch up close! I don’t remember much about the trail, other than this large expanse of slick rock we had to climb.
Delicate Arch was stunning! We stopped to take it in and then joined the line of people waiting to get their photos taken in front of the arch. The people watching while waiting our turn kept us entertained. Each group handed off their cameras and phones to the next person in line. Even though there were possibly 100 or more people waiting in line or loitering around in the vicinity, I was pleasantly surprised at the solidarity among our fellow travelers. People were chatting quietly with folks they had never met before; everyone was on the same mission: get a picture with the arch. I don’t know if this was some long-standing tradition and everyone who had done their research knew what to expect, or if we just got lucky and visited on a day with all pleasant people, patiently waiting their turn in line. A little part of me doesn’t want to do it again, for fear of ruining such a pleasant memory.
Finally, it was our turn and we carefully made our way down to the arch. Our volunteer photographer took some great shots of us with both my camera and phone. The phone has a different aspect ratio so that was able to capture the whole arch, complete with the tuft of grass on top. Even when you are sitting in line waiting with plenty of time to study the arch, it seems impossible to appreciate how massive the arch really is until you are down there standing under it. There’s not much to do but pose for a few quick photos and get out of the way for the next group, but we spent a little more time taking it all in from the ledge near the trail. We took a few more family photos from that angle, as well. It sort of looks like we are photoshopped in there, but it’s a legit photo!
We had taken the strategy of getting to the arch first and then stopping at points of interest on the way back, which is when we were able to stop at the other little arch along the same trail. Isn’t that landscape amazing?
This last photo, taken on our way back, shows just how vast this area is…and how far away from the parking lot we still were! If you look carefully at the center of the photo, the grey squiggly line is the scenic drive and tucked in there at the end of it, is the now full parking lot. It was 9:30 am at this point, and we met far more people hiking in than were there when we hiked in. I was a little surprised at the number of folks taking this “little walk” with no water in hand. We had already spent two hours out in the blazing hot sun, and as each hour passed, the temps kept going up. Any little patch of shade also held a gathering of folks attempting to cool off in it, an almost impossible task already, at this point in the day.
Our last stop included our first ever visit to a rock art site. I don’t think we had the same appreciation for what we were seeing back then as we do now, but these petroglyphs were pretty interesting. I’ve always thought it an odd contrast that we celebrate the ancient graffiti chipped into the rock, while also condemning new forms of graffiti. It’s not that I want to see who “hearts” whom or any of the other many dumb things people carve into rocks. Nor do I think we should downplay the ancient storytelling. I just think it’s interesting to note. I often wonder what, out of the many, many mass-produced things we possess today, will folks a thousand years from now look at with awe and appreciation, like we look at the ancient rock art and other artifacts from the past. It’s definitely something to consider.
We may not have climbed a mountain or thru-hiked a national scenic trail with our little hike to Delicate Arch, but when it was over, it felt like we had accomplished something big. We hiked a fairly strenuous three mile trail for the first time and stood under the arch that is a Utah icon! It’s kind of funny to look back at this hike now six years later and realize how much of a confidence boost it really was for all of us. We don’t have a lot of trails to choose from at home so our standard “hike” is maybe a mile or two of road walking. There’s no elevation gain, no “payoff” at the end; it’s just a walk. Compared to that, this hike really was an accomplishment! We hiked to the famous Delicate Arch!
We were back to our truck by 10:30am and it was time to say goodbye to Arches National Park. We stopped at the visitor center on our way out of the park so the kids could earn the Junior Ranger badges for both Arches and Canyonlands.
Shopping in Moab
We decided we wanted some t-shirts to commemorate our stay, so we did a little more shopping and found our favorites in various stores. Luckily, there is no shortage of t-shirt shops in Moab and we all found shirts we love. I still wear my Moab shirt and it’s possibly my favorite out of all of my national park shirts. I have to chuckle at these photos of us. Megan and I tried on multiple shirts, in multiple shops, taking multiple photos to help us decide on the perfect shirts, while Joey found and chose a great shirt right away. He is such a good sport while clothing shopping with his mom and sister. I’m pretty sure he is thankful to never have to shop with the two of us for clothing at any other time!
Moab Diner
I don’t remember what we had for lunch, but it may very well have been more ice cream cones from The Spoke on Main. They are that good, and I’m not opposed to ice cream for lunch, but we might have also just had something from our snack stash. I do remember supper, though! We picked up burgers to go from Moab Diner. Megan played it safe with her standard deluxe cheeseburger, while Joey and I both went with the more exotic green chili cheeseburger, which featured their “signature” green chili sauce and pico de gallo. If I remember right, we decided they were good, but kind of messy to eat on the road. Megan may have had the right idea with her deluxe burger. It’s fun to try something new on road trips, though. You just never know when you’ll discover the meal you’ll wish you could have again and again. This wasn’t one of them.
Goblin Valley
We arrived at Goblin Valley State Park before sunset. Yes, you read that right…before sunset. That makes twice on one trip! Ha! We found our campsite, #11. My campsite log book notes say “Wowza! Very cool site!” I can’t disagree with that! I had no idea if we’d like camping in the desert. We had only ever camped where there is grass and trees, so camping in the sand was a completely foreign concept for us. So far, the view of our tent with this backdrop had me hooked!
After we set up our tent, we drove down to the Goblin Overlook to check out the rest of the scenery. Goblin Valley is aptly named for its’ hoodoos that look like little goblins and you are able to wander around among the goblins since there is no particular trail.
We did not see the sun set while we were setting up our tent, but I prefer seeing the cotton candy skies just after sunset, more than a sunset itself. Seeing these rock formations in the evening, without the harsh sunlight on them, was a treat! As we drove back to our campsite, we saw photographers setting up their cameras along the side of the road.
We got ready for bed and before tucking in for the night, we looked outside at the stars. Unbeknownst to me, I had managed to plan this particular night in an International Dark Sky Park on a new moon. What we saw was amazing: millions and millions of stars of the Milky Way Galaxy. I think once you have seen the Milky Way with your own eyes, from a place as dark as Goblin Valley, it’s etched into your mind forever, at least for me it was and still is. What a way to end a spectacular day!
We only spent one night at Goblin Valley, and will move on in the morning so please subscribe to find out where we are off to next! If you know anyone who might enjoy this series, please share!