Arches 2015

More than 6 months ago, Chris' family starting planning a trip to

Arches National Park.

The National Parks have a special place in my heart.  The outdoors in general.

Everything has become so busy, that you must make your reservations as soon as you can, or you won't get them.  

Arches only has one campground in the park, the Devils Garden Campground.  And you can make reservations exactly 6 months ahead of time.  So we made our plans, and called that very morning 6 months before our trip.  In only a couple of hours, the campground was full.  

They are booked for the entire summer! 

But, there are always places to stay in Moab, which is just down the road about 15 minutes?  

I have been looking forward to this trip for such a long time.  

I looked in our scrapbooks, and discovered that in the short 11 years, that Chris and I have been married, we've already been to Arches 3 other times, and this would make 4!  

The first time we went, we was the first summer we were married.  I was thin and in shape, and we didn't have any children, so we were able to hike all over the park.  Some longer trails, I had never been on before.  

The other two trips, we had little ones.  So we were a bit more limited to where we could hike in the park.  And now, two of the girls would be old enough to hike on their own, and we'd just have one in the backpack.  

Now that I've been walking, and training for a Half Marathon, I was in a lot better shape than I've been in the past also.  

Can I just say, that this trip did NOT disappoint!  

I enjoyed every minute! 

We hiked everyday.  Sometimes, twice in a day.  We hit most of the major trails.  

My girls were amazing.  They just hiked all over, never complaining, and never getting tired.  

I was soo happy, to be in the kind of shape that would allow me to pretty much hike like I wanted also.  Even carrying a backpack with enough water and snacks for all of us.  

The scenery was amazing!  The girls had fun climbing the rocks, and playing in the sand.  

It was truly one of the BEST vacations and and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I even cried a little the day before we had to go home, knowing that the next morning, would be our last.  I loved it THAT much!!  And the girls begged us to stay at least one extra day.  

But we couldn't.

What a magical place.  Out in the desert.  God's creations, here for us to enjoy.

Staying in our trailer.  Our home away from home.  A condo on wheels :)  

My girls experiencing the great outdoors, and loving it!

Best..... Trip.....Ever.....!  

I took more pictures than you can imagine, and I've already shared them on Facebook, so I'll try and just share my very most favorites here...

This could be a long post...Sorry :) 

We got there on Wednesday.  We got the trailer and our camp situated, and hiked all the rocks around the campgrounds.  Which led us to an Arch probably only about 100 yards away, in the campground, called,  Skyline Arch.

Skyline Arch

The very next morning, Thursday, we headed straight for Delicate Arch!

One of my favorite all time hikes, and on the Utah License Plate!  

A famous landmark for sure!

The last time we hiked to it, Bree was the baby in the backpack.

It's been a while.  And I couldn't wait for my girls to see it :)

It was Spring Break in Utah County and who know's where else, so the trail was busier than I have ever seen it before.  

There were so many people, I almost couldn't believe it.  But what blew me away, was how kind and helpful  everyone was.  There was actually a short line, and everyone was taking turns, standing under the arch, so that no one else was in your picture.  And just as I asked someone if I could take a picture for them, they offered to do the same for us.  I loved it!

I did look over at one point, and there was no one standing by Delicate Arch.  

So for a brief moment, I got a couple of pictures from quite a distance of the Arch all by itself.  But most of the time, it was never lacking for company!

And that evening, we even ventured out to see some more arches, even though Ruby was tired from a long day already.  There was just so much to see.

We went over to the Windows area, and saw Turret Arch, North and South Windows, and

Double Arch.

Double Arch just happens to be in the opening scene of the first Indiana Jones movie!

Turret Arch with some family...

North and South Windows

Double Arch  (Watch Indiana Jones!)

A couple of pics I took on the way back to camp that night.

The next day, Friday, we headed out on a trail that has many arches.  The trail is a loop and you can do as much or as little as you like.  

We skipped Tunnel and Pine Tree Arches, to see other, bigger ones.

The first Arch we saw was Landscape.  Back in the 90's a huge piece actually fell off the Arch. 

Someone was actually standing there when it happened and got a couple of pictures of it coming down.  Before then, you were aloud to hike up under the arch, but no longer.  Now you just look from a distance.

Landscape

Right before we got to Landscape Arch, we found a huge group of Chris' family members.  There were probably about twice this many people in Chris' family on the trip, but we were never all together and any one time.  It was more likely, that we were split up in smaller groups when hiking and we weren't all in the same place at once.  

We all had reserved spots in the campground, so it was fun to visit or be visited at each others trailers.

Landscape Arch

And the trail went on.  Leading us to more arches.

Next stop would be Navajo Arch!

Navajo Arch

And finally, on this trail, we would stop at 

Partition Arch.

When we got back to camp, we had some dinner, and decided to go play in one of the super large, super fun sand hills.  

I'm telling you, this sand is more fine, and better than beach sand. 

It's like silk.  

The girls took off their shoes and socks, played with cousins, and went to the top of the hill, so they could see how fast they could run down the hill in the super soft sand.

I think this was one of their favorite activities.  

Perfect sand wonderland for kids!

We played till the sun was setting.  

Another great day in Arches!

Saturday morning, we had a different plan.

Chris and I were both a little sore from carrying heavy backpacks and hiking for 2 days straight.

So we decided to go down to the parks Visitor Center, and then go to as many scenic pull offs, etc.. as we could.  No long hikes, but lots of viewing areas!

And we managed to walk around Balanced Rock, and walk into Sand Dune Arch as well.

It was a way to rest up a bit, while still seeing the park!

Park Avenue

Balanced Rock

Sand Dune Arch

And then, Sunday came.  The day we go home.

But, before we do, there is one more loop I wanted to hike before we left.

So in the morning, we set out.

The trail leaves from one point in the campground, and come in at another.  

A full loop, and we'd be hiking to Tapestry Arch, and Broken Arch!

After we got back from our final hike.  We ate some lunch, and then it was time to pack up and go home.  We didn't leave until quite late in the day.... about 3pm.  But I'm so glad that we took time to hike that one last trail.  We saw so much, and explored a whole lot more!  

I've got to say, that this trip met every expectation I had and then some.  

No one wanted to go home, but all good things come to an end.

Until next time!!  

Tapestry Arch

Tapestry Arch

Chris found some Lizard tracks in the sand across our hiking trail.

Broken Arch

Broken Arch

Broken Arch

Headed to the campground... time to head home :(