Slickrock RV
Today we had to leave our nice campground and checked into another one before heading off to Arches once again. It’s amazing how in a few short days the place seems familiar, almost like the streets of your hometown. We drove to the “windows†part of the park where there are a few easy walks up to some arches that look like elliptical holes in the rock walls. There were a lot of stairs to climb so after a few minutes we left the stroller on the trail and continued all 5 by foot. Orr for the most part walks on the trail, fast pace and gives Paola and me a hand when asked. Shir on the other hand, is the free spirit. She refuses to hold hands, defines the trail as whatever is interesting to her, and can spend many long minutes staring at a rock, some ants, or whatever seems to amuse her.
We reached the arch and its blessed breeze after 20 minutes and sat in the cool shade for some snacks and water. Coming back down, Shir’s refusal to hold hands caused both her and Paola to slip down one of the steps and fall. Don’t worry, only a few scratches, mother and daughter are fine. Whenever one of the girls refuses to hold hands, Paola or I pick her up and walk until she relents. It usually works but on today’s trail Shir was in a combat mood and tried to jump backwards out of Paola’s hands. The ensuing juggling act resulted in a scratched chin for Shir and a scraped knee for Paola.
After lunch, we drove to a place known as Fiery Furnace. It’s called so not because of the heat but rather the orange glow of its rock pillars and fins in the afternoon sun. This area requires a special hiking permit because it has no marked trails. A lot of people get lost there because it is really like a maze of canyons, buttes, mesas, sand and rocks. So of course I got a permit, and while the girls were napping I took a two hour tour of the place. It was like the goblin valley playground from a few days ago, bit for grownups. I climbed over and under rockfalls, scrambled up slickrock and basically spent the first 30 minutes trying to get as far out from the trailhead as possible. It was very quiet, and there were no other people around, just footprints on the sand. At one point I felt someone was staring at me, it was an owl.
The hike was amazing, and very cool because I was in the shade all the time. I saw some more arches, spires, rain puddles and lizards galore. I couldn’t get lost though, and returned to the RV a bit after and hour and a half. We then took the kids to a viewpoint over the place but they preferred to jump from some rocks.
We returned in the afternoon to this campground which is kind of dilapidated compared to yesterday’s. The showers are dirty and it is very dusty here. We did have a good dinner though, as we prepared steaks on the grill and had humus and babaganoush (eggplant) salad.
The wi-fi here is not working either so you will probably see this post tomorrow.
Good night
-Hemi