Today we woke up to use our 8–9am timed entry to Arches National Park to see the Visitor Center and hike the Windows Trail. Then we did a half day rafting on the Colorado River. This evening a smaller group of us did an evening hike to Delicate Arch.
Windows Trail
We had some logistical issues figuring out everything we wanted to do and see. Today we had a 10:30 reservation for rafting, which would bring us back around 4:00. Tomorrow we have a 10:00 reservation for a hummer tour. We had a 8–9am timed entry for Arches today and have a 2–3pm timed entry for tomorrow. We wanted to hike the Windows, Balanced Rock, and Delicate Arch trails.
What we settled on was getting to the park as early in our window as possible today, getting maps and advice at the Visitor Center, and hiking either Balanced Rock or Windows, whichever one we had time for.
Thankfully we were able to cruise into the park a few minutes before 8 and made the Visitor Center a quick stop, leaving enough time for the Windows Trail.
The trail is an easy, well maintained path by three arches: Turret Arch, South Window, and North Window. These arches are gigantic. We got our pictures and decided against trying to squeeze in Double Arch, which is a separate spur trail.
Rafting the Colorado
We rafted the Colorado River for the middle part of the day. This was my least anticipated part of our itinerary. I had a bad experience rafting the Upper Gauley in West Virginia several years ago and decided that I didn’t need to do any whitewater stuff ever again.
Our rafting trip today was Moab Adventure Center’s Mid-Day trip which is class 1 and 2 water. It ended up being fine and the kids had a good time, but I’m still not itching to do it again.
Delicate Arch
Hiking to Delicate Arch was the real logistical problem for us. The guides list it as a sun-exposed 2–3 hour difficult hike. Some in our group are tired of hiking, and those of us interested were not interested in doing it in the heat of the day.
We decided to do an evening hike. We got to the trailhead just before 6:30 pm. Our smaller party consisted of five adults and one teenager, all in pretty good shape. It was definitely a trek. I was breathing hard for sections of it, but the brunt of the sun was lessened in the evening light, even though the temperatures were still in the 90s.
We got to the arch, and about 25 people were sitting and enjoying the evening light and the beautiful scenery all around. One guy was set up with a tripod and appeared to be waiting for some sunset shots.
We got family pictures in the arch and then headed back down, which, of course went quicker and easier. All told we crushed the “2–3 hour hike” in about an hour and a half. Not that it’s a race, but we were glad to be done before nightfall and back to the hotel at a more reasonable time.
