arches national park

I hope you're ready, because Arches was the grand finale of our trip, and there's a LOT to talk about.

We left our hotel early in the morning, hoping to beat the rush (because we drove by yesterday and saw lines of cars waiting to get into the park), and for the most part, our strategy worked: We were basically one step ahead of the huge crowds for most of the day.

Once we entered the park, our first stop was Park Avenue, a row of gorgeous rock formations with a path down the middle for strolling. 

After that, we took a stroll around Balanced Rock, and even did a little climbing.

Next up was the Windows section, where we climbed up to the North Window, which gave us an incredible view, including a view of Turret Arch, which was basically next door. There were people everywhere by this point, and a nice lady offered to take a picture of us all, so we did that. We're standing in the North Window, but you can't really tell from the picture. Oh well. We know the truth.

The next stop was a view of Delicate Arch, which is probably the most popular arch in the whole place. We opted to view it from a distance, since it was literally crawling with people. Ugh, people.

After that we took a short trail to admire the canyons, fins, and mazes of the Fiery Furnace area, and Henry took a little break to build some cairns to add to the ones already there. Such concentration!

Probably my favorite part of the park was Sand Dune Arch. More specifically, the interesting path that led to Sand Dune Arch. We had to squeeze through a channel created by rock formations, then walk through the sand (or, I guess, sand dune) to find this little arch sort of tucked away in the rocks. It was my favorite because it felt like a secret (even though of course there were other people there discovering the same thing).

We drove past Skyline Arch, which was just along the side of the road, and came to the Devils Garden area. By this time, most of us were pretty worn out, but Mike and Liam opted to take the trail into Devils Garden to see a few more arches. Their perseverance was rewarded, too, because they also saw some birds (finally!): a Cassin's finch, a Western bluebird, and a raven. Oh, and also Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Landscape Arch.