09/08/04 Hiking Devil's Garden Trail: (4.2 miles round trip)
Drove all the way to the end of the scenic road to this trailhead. I'm not sure how good my legs and lungs are so this would be a fair test of them.
1 mile brings you to the Landscape Arch, a long, thin arch 50 feet in the air. Wall Arch appears at 1.5 miles and the turnoff for Navajo and Partition arches are just beyond, up some slick rock. Partition Arch is .25 from the turnoff as is Navajo Arch, although by a different path.
The trail then heads up on to a fin and comes back down at what was once Black Arch and a nice view over a bunch of hoodoo type formations. Then on to Double O Arch, a large circular arch with a smaller one directly underneath at 2.1 miles.
On past hikes I had gone on to Black Angel, a tall spire .5 miles farther on or taken the primitive trail back. This time I just retraced my steps, passing a ton of people coming the other way on this Wednesday after Labor Day.
09/09/04 Hiking Delicate Arch Trail: (3 miles round trip)
Trail work is being done just past the petroglyphs. Since this is one of the most famous arches in the world they had to set up a detour to bypass the workmen, It leads up the road for .25 miles and then follows a wash for .5 miles to reconnect with the original trail past the workers.
It's still .5 miles up a moderate incline of slick rock. The trail levels out at the top and proceeds over various terrain for another .5 miles or so to the arch, A huge, stand alone arch near the edge of a drop off is really awesome. The sun is coming from the wrong direction for good pictures in the morning. Afternoon would be much better for photographs, if you can stand the heat.
Hiking the Windows Section Trails (1 mile round trip:
This trail leads around to Turret Arch and then continues on behind the Windows Arch, two arches in a wall fairly close together. Double Arch, one of my favorites, is nearby and provides some great photo opportunities.