Tower Arch and the Marching Men
On our last “off” day last week we tackled our last remining named trail here in Arches National Park (Nancy: I hope that’s the last time he says “last”), taking the Tower Arch Trail thru the Klondike Bluffs section. It was a beautiful hike.
This trail is in the more remote, less visited part of the park, no doubt because the trailhead is reached only after driving 8 miles on an unpaved, washboarded gravel “road”. (For our Sanibel peeps, think Island Inn Rd at its worst, only much longer!)
The trail climbs a steep, short rock wall …
Then cuts across a valley …
Climbs a sand dune …
From which we can look back and see the Marching Men formation …
Then the trail meanders thru sandstone fins …
Before reaching the Tower Arch …
We enjoyed a snack while resting under the arch and looking out and up …
On the hike out, Nancy' demonstrated her patented “5 points of contact” descent technique. As she likes to say, “You can’t fall down if you’re already sitting.” …
The Tower Arch Trail was 730 feet of elevation change over 3 miles roundtrip, done on a sunny day and far from the crowds.
We’ve now hiked all the named trails here in Arches this month, and enjoyed them all!