Spring Break getaway...Devils Garden area

On Saturday we got an early start and headed into Arches by 9am.  We wanted to get all the way to the top of the park to explore Devil's Garden.  This area has a number of arches on a 7 mile "loop" trail.  We weren't sure how far we'd go...we just headed out to explore.  The first arch we came to was Tunnel Arch.

A short hike to the next one was Pine Tree arch.  There was a pine tree growing right under the arch and that is why it was named that.  We took pictures inside the arch and soon learned that you can't see any faces in the shade under an arch.  So as we were leaving Kim and Katie had the idea to take a picture in the sun.  I think it turned out great!

Another hike and we found ourselves at Landscape Arch.  I think this is one of my favorite arches.  It's really long and just looks kind of fragile because it spans such a huge distance.  In face, in 1991 a huge piece of the arch fell off and came crashing down.  Now they don't let you go in this arch...only view it from a distance.  You can't help but wonder if it will collapse completely in the "near" future...maybe 200 years!

We were having so much fun exploring that we decided to keep going.  We hiked and hike to the next turn off and headed to Navajo arch.

We spent quite a while exploring the area around Navajo arch.  There was a slot canyon that Evan and Mayce figured out how to get up and get on top of the bluff.  They were up exploring and making a Go Pro video of the amazing views they had from up there.   We waiting and then worried about them getting down and with good reason.  There were some jumps and scary moments for them to get back down, but they loved it!  While we were there we decided that we needed a big group picture and we asked a poor passer by to take our picture...on 3 different cameras.  I think he did a great job!

From Navajo arch it was a long way to the farthest arch...Double O.  Everyone was doing pretty well and most of us decided to push on.  It was some tough hiking, but again, once we reached Double O, it was worth it!  We were getting pretty hungry by this time (3 1/2 hours in...about 1pm!) and discovered that we forgot the pack with the snacks in it.  Luckily, Kim was prepared with just about everything in her backpack and we scarfed her homemade energy goo (which was delicious!!) and decided to continue the loop onward that eventually lead back to the car.

The hike back was supposed to be the "easier" way and maybe it was, but we were getting tired and hungry at this point!!  The little kids did amazing on this mega hike, but needed a little help near the end!

The "easy" way ended up having one of the scariest parts of the hike.  There was a narrow ledge taht you had to ease yourself across and there was no room for error.  Luckily there were some people there making their way at the same time as us and it was a group effort to get everyone through safely.

After another 1.5 hours of the "easy" way back we arrived tired, hungry, and sore to our cars.  It turned out to be a 5 hour adventure and an estimated 7 miles!  Phew!  It was again perfect weather and such a beautiful experience...but we ate our lunch and headed into Moab for some ice cream!  We deserved it!

All in all it was a great getaway.  We had a fun night around the campfire and a great game of whiffle ball at camp as well....no pictures.  It made for a good mix of work and play for our Spring Break 2015!

Spring Break getaway...Delicate Arch

After lunch we headed over to Arches National park to hike the famous Delicate Arch.  This is the arch that is on all the Utah license plates...probably the most recognized arch in the country.  The hike is fairly strenuous and goes up the face of the redrock so it's not easy.  We didn't take any pictures while we were hiking because it's just hard!  This was the last little ledge part of the hike before you turn the corner and see the arch.

 Once you reach the arch the hike is all worth it!  People spend a long time up there enjoying the view and taking lots of photos!  I enjoyed exploring the arch area and taking pictures of all those fun people who were with me!  We really had a great group of hikers and family together.

Evan liked to climb to fun places and get even higher and better views.  He is part mountain goat I think and I try to just let him be...but tell him to "Be careful" a lot!

You seriously just don't want to leave!  It's fun to sit and watch people and enjoy the views from all different directions.  We were waiting for our group to all get there, but we probably stayed about 45 minutes to an hour up at the arch!

For this hike you have to go back down the way you came.  It's a much easier hike down, and passing those coming up you remember how it felt.  It was fun to give encouragement and chat with people on the trail.  The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed ourselves!

Spring Break weekend getaway...Dead Horse Point State Park

For Spring Break we had several projects we needed to get done around the house and Dave had just taken vacation days for NYC, so we just snuck away for 2 days to Dead Horse Point State Park and Arches National Park near Moab.  We hadn't been there for about 8 years and it was such a fun place to explore.  We put out an invite to our families for all who wanted to share our group site and off we went!!

We got a late start and pulled into camp about 10pm on Thursday night.  There were a couple campers squatting in our site, but there was room to share and they were gone first thing in the morning!

After breakfast we headed out to Dead Horse Point State Park that was about 20 miles up the road from our campsite.  I had never been there and it had been since grade school since Dave went there, so we decided to check it out.  Such a beautiful place!

The cacti were just starting to bloom and this one was exceptionally beautiful!

This ledge was really fun to stand on!  It looked like you were really out on a ledge, but in reality there was another ledge just below you that made you feel safe enough to venture out on to it!

The weather was perfect, the company was great, and we had a great time exploring this area of our state!