Saturday was our last hiking day of the trip and we saved the longest for the last. Our goal was to see as many arches as possible in the Arches National Park. And I am proud to say that Diana and I saw all the major arches except for one (The Tapestry Arch), and countless unnamed arches too. We believe it was 20 arches in total.

We started at the Devil’s Garden trail and made the entire loop around the park including all of the side trails to the individual arches. The Landscape Arch was beautiful and is the largest of the arches. It was early in the hike, so a lot of people went to see it.

But shortly after that the trail gets a little tougher and more ‘primitive’. Diana and I didn’t think it was so bad since we had already endured the Slots in Escalante. Lots of climbing over rocks, across narrow rock bridges and down slippery rock slopes. Diana loved taking pictures of me way up on a rock and dangerously high up. Trying to get just the right picture. There was so much beauty all around us.

This next picture is just funny. Diana and I kept seeing faces and objects in the rocks. These two rocks looked like ET and one of the Minions from Despicable Me.

Next we went to the Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch. They didn’t quite live up to what we had just experienced.

We were tired and hot, thinking of heading back but we had two more locations to visit. Next was the Delicate Arch. We thought, maybe we should just go to a scenic view, but I knew from research that this was the ‘crown jewel’ of the arches so we mustered up everything we had and started the hike. It was an uphill climb that seemed to go on forever. About 4 miles roundtrip but worth every painful step. LOL. Pictures just don’t do it justice. You are so high up and the arch is just standing alone on the top of the mountain. Loved it!

Our last stops were the The Windows and Double Arches, and then the Balancing Rock.

We finally headed back for a much-needed shower and tasty drink. We treated ourselves to a steak dinner and enjoyed checking out the local souvenir shops. Yes, more walking. We ended the night with an ice cream treat and then back to our campsite to wind down for the night. It was a good day.

Tip of the Day: It’s more of a question. Do you start with the steepest hike of the day or the longest. That’s a coin toss. I think either way, our legs would be pretty tired.

P.S. Yes Sharon, we matched again today. It was light blue day.