Making the Most Out Of A Half Day In Moab
It’s 5:45AM and it’s already light out- in fact it’s already warm out. The National Parks don’t allow dogs on trails, and we've got our eyes set on some hikes around the park. We drop Lacie’s dog, Royal, off at a local Rover. We drive into the neighborhood and these quaint houses are shrouded by a mountain (more like a towering wall) of orange sandstone. A quick 12 minutes later when we arrive at the park entrance, we’re happily surprised that there is no line. We did not make a reservation, so we had to arrive before 7:00AM.
This was my first National Park out west, and my first time in Utah. The drive through the park is jaw-drop worthy (at least if you’re seeing this type of terrain for the first time). Every hue of orange, veering into red.
We found parking at the Delicate Arch trailhead at Wolfe Ranch, also luckily not super busy at the time we got there. The hike to Delicate Arch is approximately 3.5 miles round trip, and it took us 1 hour 20 minutes to complete. I’ve seen people saying it is a hard hike online, but I’d say that is only going to be true if you are out of shape and go in the middle of the day when the sun is strongest. If you’re even in moderate shape, you’ll be fine! There is some incline but nothing insane, it does have uneven terrain, and it is a hot trail with no shade. For being a piece of rock, it is quite impressive when you see it: the arch, the backdrop, the “stadium” that it sits in. To snag a phot under the arch- you might have to wait in line and it is worth it for a quick pic! Another great photo op is right when you arrive, you’ll get a nice wide-view of the arch.
I put my backpack down for the photo, with Lacie’s water bottle in it. When I picked my backpack up and swung it over my shoulder, welllll out Lacie’s water bottle rolled down into the center of the stadium. There was a collective “oohhhh…OHHHH” as it bounced a few times before rolling down to its doom. Luckily, the center of the stadium is accessible and I went down to get it. The water bottle was a little worse for wear…now we know that Hydroflasks will dent pretty good!
Our next stop in the park was to The Windows, a section of the park with you guessed it- more arches. The arches here are accessible by short hikes. The sun was blazing hot by this time, and we found respite in the shade under the arches. Here you’ll find North Window, South Window, and the Double Arch. One thing that fascinated me about the park was the desert plants. My friend back home is always stopping to inspect plants when we go on walks in the woods, and I felt like I had turned into her on this hike. I loved the flowers that somehow thrive in the desert heat, and the mini cacti poking out of the ground.
Our drive through the park was totally nonsensical, as we then went up to the Devil’s Garden, which passes by the road to Delicate Arch. Our time at The Windows was hot, but our time in Devil’s Garden was HOT. And rightfully so, being a playground of the Devil and all. There are some longer hikes in here, but we stayed with a cool mile-or-so hike to the Pine Tree Arch, aptly named for all the desert pines growing below it. It was here that I had my favorite encounter of the day. After the water bottle incident, many people were coming up to me in the park saying they recognized Lacie and I, and kudos to me for going down for the bottle. The woman at Pine Tree Arch however, said that meeting us was the highlight of her day and that I was her National Park hero. Really I was just trying to be a good friend and fix my mistake, but I’ll take National Park hero too! 🤣
Once it hit noon, it was time for us to go. There was so much of the park that we didn’t get to see, but we had a full morning of hiking, incredible views, and 15 minutes of fame.
