Slice of Life: Arches National Park – Hiking in the Dark

For the next week, I’ll be posting short accounts of our trip out West. We planned this trip last spring in hopes that the COVID situation would be resolving by now.

Last night we arrived in Moab, Utah. We had a 12 hour day of travel from Wisconsin to Denver on a plane and then a six hour drive to Moab on I-70. Our favorite spot during the drive was a rest stop on Grizzly Creek in Glenwood Canyon, CO. It was picturesque, had a well marked trail and Aspen trees that were still blooming.

As we reached Utah, the landscape changed to a desolate brown. Unfortunately, the sky was gray and it started to rain lightly and sporadically. By the time we reached Moab, it was dark.

We checked into the hotel and quickly made our plan for today. Here is how it went:

4:30 a.m. get up

5:00 a.m. drive to Arches National Park (less than ten minutes away). IT WAS DARK! We had decided to go to Delicate Arch for the sunrise which meant we had to be one of the first in the park to get to Wolfe Ranch and start up the trailhead. Sunrise was at 7:30 a.m.

5:30 a.m. We got out of the car, gathered our water and turned on our flashlights! We were going to hike in the dark! Initially, by ourselves, we got a fair distance in before we lost the trail. Soon, others caught up and there were six of us on a salt slope searching for where the trail continued. IT WAS DARK!

Soon, we found the trail again. We were the oldest among the group out this early. And, soon we were behind the others – who walked faster than us.

7:12 a.m. we rounded the bend and saw Delicate Arch. There were a few people already there. We found a spot, sat, and took many, many, many photographs.

A great, yet dark, start to an awesome day of hiking in an unusually beautiful setting.

Today is Slice of Life Tuesday! Thank you, Two Writing Teachers for hosting this weekly forum!