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More Red Rock and my first visit to a Utah icon.

When the state of Utah turned 100 years-old in 1996 the government issued a brand new, full color, full graphics Centennial license plate.  I’m sure there was a committee of persons who spent hours deliberating over what, exactly, should be on that license plate.  For years the “standard” plate has been a skier proclaiming “Utah:  Greatest Snow on Earth”.  Apparently for a 100th birthday, the skier just wasn’t going to cut it.  This committee wanted something Big!  Something Permanent!  And Impressive!

Enter the Delicate Arch–the largest free-standing natural arch in the world.

Located in Arches National Park, this is perhaps one of the most recognizable icons from the state.  Even though I have been to arches a half-dozen times, this was the first time I actually made the hike to Delicate.  Most of the arches in the park are within easy walking distance from a campground or picnic area and on established trails.  Not so for this beauty–you have to hike a mile and a half up slickrock, through washes and around giant sandstone formations, on a trail marked with small piles of rocks.  You cannot see Delicate Arch until you pick your way up a skinny trail with a drop-off on one side and people moving both ways, at the last possible moment you are rewarded with the vista above.

It is completely breathtaking…and I am more-or-less out of shape.  Hiking like that was much more draining than I thought it would be!  At any rate, this is definitely a hike I want to do again, the absolute massiveness of this formation is sooo worth the achey calves.  Delicate Arch is over 50 feet tall, but when you are standing right next to it, it seems much, MUCH larger.  Look how teensy and ant-like I look here!

Completely impressive, no?  It was amazing.  Handsome & I hung out around here for a little while, but with no shade to speak of and us running low on water, it wasn’t too long before we turned around and headed back down the slickrock. (Note to future hikers:  take extra water, and hike down to the farside of the arch for more impressive photo opps…wish I’d known that pre-hike…grrrr.)

The rest of the day Handsome & I wandered around the park, had a little lunch, and saw some of the close-to-the-road arches.  After our hike both of our legs were all jelly-like and worthless.  A few pics of my favorites:

Balanced Rock–a terribly original name–almost looks like it came out of a theme park.  Or should go into a theme park…it’s like the prehistoric version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but without the crown-molding details.

Walking through a slot canyon in The Devil’s Garden, which is surprising similar in feel to The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  Only here in Utah we blame the devil for unearthly, red-rock formations, not some kind of divine being.

Landscape Arch, which claims being the thinnest natural arch in the world.  (I seriously think half of these claims are made up just so the other arches feel badly; there’s the biggest, the thinnest, the tallest, the newest, or the whateverest….it must be a conspiracy.)  A couple of years ago huge chunks of rock broke off this arch while people were there watching, goodness, that would have been amazing to see.  Tons of sandstone cracking and breaking to expand this already precarious formation.  Mmmm, I get chills just thinking about the awesomeness…it’d be like watching a volcano explode.  Only, without the hot molten lava threat or mass destruction and death.

If you haven’t already, make sure to enter to win a Ruthie Pearl bag stuffed with goodies for Roxy’s birthday celebration!

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