Jodi Harrington is not only walking all the way across the continental United States, she’s also journaling as she goes. She and her walking partner Josh started in February from Delaware. As of today, they are in Colorado.
It’s really amazing to follow them through this journey. Jodi posts every few days so I feel like I’m always up to date. Their experience is inspiring. The ticks and the muscle cramps? not so much.
This post is part of the Destinations blog carnival #3 and the August 7th Carnival of Travelers.
Part of a series: (links to go live as they get posted)
The entry fee is $10 for a seven-day pass. Always make sure you have plenty of water. There are only two water sources within the park. Keep a large supply in your car and keep refilling your portable containers. Pack in your meals. You can’t buy food anywhere inside the park. For more information about what to bring, please see my post about packing for Arches.
The first thing to do is stop in the visitor center and sign up for the ranger-guided Fiery Furnace hike. It’s an extra $10 but well worth it. There are two per day, and these are very popular. They fill up days in advance. Phone reservations are not accepted so you have to make them in person. If they do have spots open during your time in the area, I would highly recommend putting your names down and reworking your schedule.
Despite the strenuous warnings you’ll receive when signing up, I think anyone in reasonable condition can do it. The tour does last three hours and once you’re in, you will need to stay with the group. There are plenty of rests while the ranger talks about the area, the park, and the plants and animals.
You will need to do some scrambling, some leaping across rock gaps, some facing of exposed heights, and climbing and descending regularly. I think younger children (8-year-olds?) would have a blast on it. There really isn’t a danger of the fall-and-you’ll-die variety except for one cliff edge but that cliff is maybe twenty feet wide. Unless you get dizzy around heights, it’s safe.
The ranger information is fantastic and the hike is really fun. You get close up and personal with a lot of fins, rock formations that eventually go on to become arches. Once again, I’m stressing the need to carry sufficient water. Bring food on the hike if you need energy boosts.
So after signing up, maxing out your water supply, and hitting the restrooms, it’s time to enter the park. Depending on how much time you have and how much hiking you want to do, there are different ways to approach it.
If you have one day and are doing a car tour, I would suggest seeing the park’s three main attractions in this order. Stop at Balanced Rock and The Windows. (Right by the side of the road with short walks.) Drive all the way down to the end of the park to see Landscape Arch. (The trail to this is marked Easy but it is not. You will need to work for it.) There’s a nice picnic area to eat lunch. Drive back to see Delicate Arch, the unofficial symbol of Utah.
There are three options to see this famous formation. A far away view is possible from just off the parking lot. There’s a closer view with a short but vertical hike. Then there is the long trek that will get you right to the natural amphitheater within which it sits. That one is a lengthy, climbing hike. (For Star Wars fans, take a look at this Jabba rock formation.)
If you have more than one day to spend at the park, I would suggest splitting it up by regions. In my mind, there are four main areas to tackle: the Landscape Arch area, Delicate Arch, the Fiery Furnace, and the rest of the park.
In part 2, I’ll describe how the boyfriend and I handled our two days.
This post is included in the Carnival of Food and Travel #2.
Part of a series: (links to go live as they get posted)
Moab is an expensive town in which to stay. One- and two-star motels run over $100/night. That’s why I feel very fortunate to have found the Silver Sage Inn.
It’s not fancy or large. In fact, it looks like a converted long-term storage facility—a long-term storage facility that was converted in the 1970s.
But what it is is clean and efficient. I can’t remember the last hotel room I was in where I felt completely comfortable that everything was clean. Nothing is new. That much is obvious, but when I pulled out the in-room coffee maker’s filter cup? Clean!
And one day, when I was walking out, I saw one of the cleaning staff taking a washcloth to a coffee machine in a newly vacated room. So I can first-hand eyeball witness that they do in fact clean very, very well.
All the drawers in the dresser? Clean! No dust, no lint, no nothing.
Not all rooms have a microwave and a refrigerator so it helps to book well in advance. There is a set in the office though. These appliances help a lot because you’ll need provisions everyday when you visit the national parks.
Also, the Inn does not serve breakfast. And it does not have a swimming pool.
But it does have large storage sheds for your larger outdoor gear. There is also a barbeque grill and a reliable ice machine.
Another huge plus is that it is very, very quiet. When I first arrived, I was concerned that the seemingly flimsy walls were going to be totally sound transparent. After a long day of hiking in the sun, you just don’t want a noisy neighbor keeping you up. But on all four nights of our stay, we did not hear any conversations, alarms, TVs, etc. It was great.
We got the internet rate of $69.95/night. That’s good even on weekends. Even though the online booking is only good for a room with two double beds, I called the location directly, and they gave me the queen-sized room with the microwave and the refrigerator for the same price.
I’m very glad we stayed here.
