Friday, July 26, 2024

Starting mileage: 17483, Miles travelled: 40, Miles hiked: 4.5

This morning we were more prepared for a pre-7am arrival and we saw the sunrise and made it with 10 minutes to spare. We headed straight to the last stop on the scenic road, the Devil’s Garden trailhead. We made one pitstop at Balanced Rock, which Laura and Brady tried to balance on their hands.

Our first hike was to Landscape Arch, the longest span in the park. The hike was through a set of large fins, which created narrow canyons and lots of sand hiking.

Upon completing the hike, we slowly made our way back down the scenic drive, stopping at several views/hikes along the way. First, we stopped for a 1.6 mile hike to see Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch.

Next we pulled off for a short walk to see Skyline Arch.

The next hike was 2.3 miles to Broken Arch, which we pretty much had to ourselves for a change. Despite the name, it looked more stable than Landscape Arch. There was a short side hike to Sand Dune Arch. 

Our next stop was an overlook of Fiery Furnace, a maze-like array of pinnacles that apparently lights up in the sunset like a burning furnace.

Our last stop was a rather underwhelming Panoramic Point viewpoint. It lived up to its name but the details of all the formations was lost in the distance. We may return here for stargazing tomorrow when the weather is supposed to be clear.

After our final stop, we were feeling a little arched out so we returned to the Visitor’s Center to view the exhibit and film and escape the afternoon heat and sun. See if you can pick out which photo of Brady and Laura above is the fake, actually taken in the exhibition. We returned to the hotel for lunch, a nap, and a swim. We went out to dinner at the Trailhead Public House where we sat outside and Laura braved the tomato jalapeño bisque and even liked it. The food was delicious and interesting, including Brady’s pork green chili poutine and the Wagyu burgers. We had yummy cinnamon bread pudding and churros a la mode for dessert.

We once again crashed early after playing some Quixx and watching more of the 6-part Ken Burns National Parks documentary that we’ve been working on since last summer’s adventure.