Arches is about 4 hours away from SLC so doing this trip in one day isn't for those who like to saunter, or who are concerned with the fact that you are in the car for 8 hours and only have 5 hours of daylight to explore (it gets dark early!) But, sometimes you need to do some spontaneous things like this for an adventure.
The great news is that on a regular November weekend there really aren't a ton of people in Arches or the surrounding area so it was easy to drive and the trails, while populated, weren't overrun with people.
We shot down to Arches and were able to down a sandwich at our first stop while looking at Double Arch. Double arch is a short walk from the roadway and actually one of the more impressive arch formations to see in Arches (in my opinion). There are two massive arches connected and you can easily walk right through them!
Next we went to Landscape Arch. This arch is considered to be the longest arch in the world (according to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society). I believe it after seeing the arches that the country Jordan was excited to show off (they were probably a quarter of the size of Delicate Arch, maybe). This arch is also the most precarious to me. Way back when you could actually walk underneath it but chunks of rock are falling fast so they have it blocked off. I'm afraid this one isn't going to last much longer. This is an easy, level, 1.5mile round trip hike. Pictures were a bit tough in the afternoon as the sun is behind the arch. Morning light is best to photograph this arch.
The big reason we went was to hike to Delicate Arch (okay, and to feel the sun on our faces). This is the arch that now dons Utah State license plates. I actually have Ski Utah - I don't even ski...but that's another story. Delicate Arch is a 3 mile RT hike which isn't super tough but the hike consists of walking up exposed red rock on a constant grade up about 500 feet to the arch. On this beautiful winter (well, at 65 degrees let's say fall) day it was great. It still made me breathe hard, but I'm not sure if that's because of the hike difficulty or lack of cardio on my part.
Delicate Arch lives up to it's fame, especially in the evening. Several people were there to view the sunset and the warm evening sun light certainly highlights the beautiful sandstone. Some snowcapped mountains in the background made it even better!
We were able to see Balanced Rock and a colorful sunset as we were driving down to Moab to grab a bite to eat before driving back to Salt Lake. That bite of eat was a pizza buffet at Zax's. This was a busy joint which served a large variety of pretty tasty pizzas. The only issue was that I had a 4 hour drive after that meal or I would have been very content!
All in all it was a great day of hiking and visiting with my friends while driving to enjoy some of the wonders of Utah. You can see, these and other pictures of Arches under the Photo Gallery: By Type - New or Photo Gallery: By Location - Utah.
