Arches NP: Tower Arch trail

[Bluegreen kayak]

After a fun Memorial Day weekend in St George, I drove east to Arches National Park. Arches has gotten so popular that you need to buy and bring a time slot ticket if you enter between 6am and 5 pm, unless you have a reserved campsite. I saw a site open up earlier this year and grabbed it quickly, even without knowing my summer plans. Luckily it worked out and I got to spend four nights in the park.

Monday night some friends came by and wanted to see Delicate Arch at sunset, so off we went. It is an amazing formation, standing so apart from everything else, and such a remarkable shape. I couldn't get a very good picture because of the clouds, but that didn't stop the crowds around me from trying. So many people! You don't go to Arches for solitude.



The other major attraction is the Fiery Furnace trail, again requiring a reservation. I wasn't able to get one, but the sympathetic ranger at the visitor center told me that the area around Tower Arch was almost as good and the road there was passable. What a wonderful recommendation that turned out to be - the unpaved road was no problem at all.


One of the gorgeous red sandstone fins visible from the road:




I drove out early in the morning and ate breakfast in the trailhead parking lot first. (There's a lot of inertia at my campsites; this is one way to get me out and on my way.) After chatting with other hikers, and watching a few go up the first incline, I was on my way. The trail starts with a step scramble up a tall hillside full of large rocks - lovely, no?

Humorous note: see the gray tree branches in the way? From the parking lot, they looked like possible railings put there to help us hikers. Sure.


The trail went on, up and down and across, for another hour plus, and with great views all the way. I liked the way this white rock between the two red pillars looks like a gargoyle ready to take flight.




All of a sudden, there was Tower Arch (tower up and to the left)


A closer view, afternoon and morning shots:






After a snack under the arch, I went exploring, first to the north and then westward. There were marvelous fins to walk between:




A section that looked like steps, but not man-made in any way:


Footprints in the sand:




Lots to explore!



Striped walls :


The tower from behind the arch:



I had a wonderful time on this trail, and would highly recommend it. Might even do it again, despite the hassles of getting in the park. Closing with a couple of humorous pictures I took on the way back. First, this thing I tried telling my grandchildren was an ancient fish fossil (no sale there).



Then this, um, whatever it is.