October 29, 2021

In retrospect, I wrote this blog when I was already suffering the symptoms of Covid. As I look back on this, I was really struggling. I have added to it and finished it.

Background

Delicate Arch is one of the most famous arches at the National Park. You can drive to a View Point to see The Arches or you can drive to a trail to hike up to the arch. The description of the trail is not encouraging. It is 3 miles round trip. This trail climbs 480 ft up a steep slick Rock slope. The trail has no shade and some exposure to heights, and just before you get to Delicate Arch the trail follows a narrow Rock ledge for about 200 yd which is often icey in winter. Well sure, it’s not winter, so let’s hike up to Delicate Arch!!! 👍

The Challenge

I don’t know why I chose this hike. I definitely did not expect the trail to be as challenging and strenuous as it was! So we are talking of a climb of 40 stories, on a variety of different surfaces and different levels of steepness. (I missed that part about walking on a carved out ledge on the side of the mountain up to the arch. 🤔)

The day was cool and sunny when I started out and I wore a vest over a long sleeve shirt. The air was cool, but the sun is warm. There were a large number of people, spread out, streaming up the trail. The dress varied tremendously from those who are dressed in hiking gear, in leggings (popular) to shorts and tops or just anything you want to wear. There were a number of people in my age range but the majority were probably in their twenties and 30s. A few hardy souls had their children in backpacks!!

The trail turned steep very quickly after a short level walk. I had to catch my breath at the top before I could make the turn for the next climb. And so it continued. Hike, stop, catch your breath, hike, stop, catch your breath, sit down take a rest. Take some pictures. (Always a good reason to pause!! 😅 ) Repeat!

In the photo above, the smooth rocky area to the top and right is my destination. Not the finish just the next destination that you can see from here. Beyond that you descend again and then you come up along the side of the mountain on a narrow trail.

The trail started to go up on a smooth rounded rock face surface that was very steep for a long time. Here I began to take a breath in with one step and a breath out with the next step in order to keep up with the oxygen demand. The altitude is around 4800′ . Of course the scenery around you is beautiful and people were all in good spirits and all ages were being challenged to some extent.🤔 I just felt like I was walking through Jello. I CANNOT imagine being on this surface during the summer!!!

The Decision

After nearly an hour of hard work with short stops for peanuts, m&ms and water, I began to feel and think that I was being taunted by the trail. 😳 That this trail purposely made you think that you were almost there and then you came around the corner and had another steep climb! After so many times of that near the end, I was getting mad! I also was feeling overwhelmed. I began to fantasize headlines in the paper or online…

” 72 year old woman, hiking solo, rescued from Delicate Arch trail because of fatigue” 🤪

Or should I say exhaustion…🤔 Because even after I got to the top, I still had to come all the way back down a steep slope for a mile and a half! That does a serious number on your knees!!

I was feeling overwhelmed by this trail. Yet I did not want to turn around after putting so much effort into this climb and being relatively close to the arch. ☹️ People who seem to be in my age group were doing it. But they usually had family members with them to help or talk with. I think that makes a difference because then you’re not so focused just on the climb. I really was pushed to the breaking point. The process reminded me of when I went back to UW-Madison. Every semester the expectations would build until there was an overwhelming peak. But then after that point, everything finished up for the semester and it was downhill from there. I began to recognize that the overwhelming feeling meant the end was in sight. So I decided to push on.

It also helped that I noticed that not a single person of any age who came down from the arches looked disappointed, bored or that it was a waste of time. Not one! As we got closer, sometimes people would encourage me and say it’s not that much farther..( liar)

The Arch

When I finally got to the part of the trail carved into the side of the mountain and came around the corner to view the arch, it… was …special. I can see why they call it the Delicate Arch. It is standing on this smooth Mountain Stone with nothing around it. It’s not attached to any other mountain or hill. There it is. In all it’s splendor. And it was a beautiful day and it is a beautiful Arch!

The Arch is still in the distance when you get to the top. You can walk down to it if you want to. It really wouldn’t be that precarious. It was a really nice atmosphere at the top.

People were spread out on the rocks as family, couples, singly, talking , having sandwiches , taking a break. I think everyone stayed at least half an hour before heading back down again. There was no rush and it was a beautiful sunny day.

A family next to me engaged me in conversation and we had a nice discussion concerning Padre Island in Texas ( the shirt I had on) Both of us are RVing and we talked about where we are going next. Then later another young couple came with two young kids and sat down next to me. The young boy was probably 2 years old , white blonde hair, and he peeked at me through his fingers over his face. He was so cute. I enjoyed talking with them. And the boy wanted his shoes and socks off and was enjoying having his toes and feet in the Sun. 😊

I don’t feel lonely on hikes like this or alone. I think people tend to be more willing to engage with me because I am alone. We are all in the hike together. And of course I smile a lot. 😄 Actually a couple women of different ages at different times at the arch commented to me that they were glad I made it and they knew I could do it! I didn’t even know they were watching me! Of course I had an orange vest on. 😅 I’m no dummy.!!

I also observed an “unwritten rule” that I have seen on many hiking trails and at scenic points. People went under the Arch to do their thing and have their picture taken. When they were done they moved away from the Arch and away from the structure totally. Everybody understood that people wanted pictures of the Arch without people in them. Nobody camped out under it or next to it. ( I did take a couple pictures though with people in them for perspective 👍)

I thought of going down there because I knew somebody would have taken my picture for me. But I knew I did not need any extra steps!! That probably would have been about a good 500 steps just down there let alone 500 more uphill on my way back! I didn’t have any friends along to pull me up!! 😂 (But I did get a helping hand from others across some tricky parts on the hike without asking). 🤗 I wanted to be sure I had enough energy for the trip back.

The Return Trip

Not done yet !!

At the entrance to the trail, you are going through the old Wolfe Ranch. It was quite interesting the way he chose to live. I don’t know how you could make a living in that kind of terrain.

I am sure the dry conditions here contribute to the preservation of all these wooden cabins and corrals. It’s amazing to think of how old this structure is!

This is the wood used in the large cabin. What I found unusual was how twisted some of the ends of these logs were. They were beautiful. But it reminded me more of driftwood washed up from the ocean…

After this hike, I began to experience symptoms of very congested sinuses, tiredness and running a fever. Since I was subsisting on DayQuil and NyQuil I didn’t really realize that I was running a fever until I decided to finally go in to get checked. I wonder how I would have viewed this hike had I not been sick. I’m sure I wouldn’t have whined so much. 😂.

However, I believe this is the most difficult hike in the Arches National Park. Unless you go on the 6 mile hikes, the rest are reasonably short hikes. All have elevation changes. But, The reason I say that, is because it has its very own hiking stick medallion! You usually don’t have a medallion for a particular trail. Usually just the park. So cool! 😎

This concludes this Marathon blog from a Marathon hike!!! 👏 I hope you enjoyed it!! 👍