3 October 2017, Tuesday
Goose Island Camp, Delicate Arch
We slept in Vincent last night. At 7 am I emerge from the van and check the campsite across the road. It is already empty. I quickly move our two chairs into the drive to indicate that the site is claimed, clip the receipt from our payment envelope to the post and deposit the envelope in the receptacle at the campground entrance. By the time I return to the van, O is talking to a couple who are claiming the site we were occupying. We move to site 9, right along the Colorado River, and prepare breakfast. The campground shuffle is underway for the day. After breakfast we set up Wglwof. We will be here until the morning of the 10th.
By the time we are settled into our new site, it is almost 11 am. We drive to the entrance to Arches. There is a long, slowly moving line of cars waiting to get in. It is obvious that we won’t have time to do our planned hike through Devil’s Garden today. Instead we head to Delicate Arch, the iconic formation seen on all Utah license plates. The three mile round trip to the arch has a steady stream of hikers along the trail. No danger of getting lost here! The authors of our hiking guide to Utah, (Utah, From Here to WOW) write that the hike itself is not spectacular, but the arch is most certainly worth seeing. They suggest considering this trek more a pilgrimage than a hike.
Along the path, near its beginning, is a little side trail to some Ute petroglyphs. The hike up to the arch is a bit steep in places, but not difficult. As we climb, we hear voices from all over the world. The day is cool and sunny and the sky is a brilliant blue. We soon reach the arch. It is indeed worth seeing in person. The arch is surrounded by a natural slick rock amphitheater – a perfect place for lunch. As we eat we observe the antics of other visitors posing for photos below the arch. The most creative is a young woman who does a perfect backbend beneath as her photo is snapped. After enjoying our view of the arch and the distant snow covered LaSal Mountains, O and I return down the trail and drive back to the visitor center where we catch the last showing of the park film for the day.
Back at camp we cook up dinner and then drive up route 128 along the Colorado River. The canyon walls are bright red in the evening sun. In the upper reaches of the river, the canyon begins to widen and flatten out. We turn back to camp. Tomorrow we hope to get an early start in the morning so we will have time to hike Devil’s Garden.
