Moab Pix

Moab at 5:15pm, and the temperature is only 101. They (whoever they are) say that it is a dry heat and that is more bearable. I learned from my previous trips to the Southwestern desert that hot is hot. The word dry is important, because the heat does dry you out. Anyone doing any kind of outside activity in this climate has to be prepared to rehydrate. The penalty for not carrying enough water is severe... you could die. We took a quart of fluid each and had nothing left when we returned to the campground in the early afternoon.

This morning we set out for Arches National Park. The entrance is about 9 miles north of the campground. The formations in the park are spectacular. We did most of the trails but the furthest, Devil's Garden. You really need at least two days (really two mornings if you get an early start) to do justice to Arches. Devil's Garden is the longest maintained trail in the park, roughly 8 miles. The literature recommends that you allow at least 2-3 hours each way. By the time we got to the entrance to Devil's Garden, it was already past noon and the heat was getting to us.

Arches National Park has the largest amount of natural stone arches in the world. We only saw a few, including some of the best known, Delicate Arch, which appears in Utah's license plates, and Double Arches. The Devil's Garden trail has eight arches. In addition, it has thousand of other natural formations. All of the formations in the park are the work of wind and water. Some of the trails are reasonably easy to tackle and others are more severe. For example, to see the Delicate Arch, you can hike a strenuous three mile (round trip) trail that gets you to the base of the arch. The alternative is going to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint. Even this alternative gives you choices, a hundred yard flat trail to a viewpoint or a moderately strenuous hike to the upper viewpoint. The pictures of the Delicate Arch, below, were taken from the upper viewpoint.