Arches National Park: Delicate Arch
“Is this what life on Mars will look like?” Decidedly, I shook my head yes. Red dust kicked up and whirled around my ankles as I trudged across the barren landscape. A golden arch (not McDonald’s) dominated the red horizon, driving me forward through the blistering heat. As the sun dug its scathing rays into my shoulder blades, a drop of sweat slid sneakily between the break in my eyebrows, followed the trail of my face, and dangled teasingly off of the tip of my nose. I had to pull over on the trail several times to inhale some uncomfortably warm air and take a few swigs of lukewarm water before continuing on.
I was currently climbing (crawling) up to the Delicate Arch, in Arches National Park. Despite visiting during a fluke cold front during the middle of August, the ground still blazed with heat as my hiking boots crunched over the sand and gravel below me. Everywhere you looked, there was simply one color: orange. But even though it may just be one color, it was tainted with 50,000 varying hues and tints as the sunlight beamed against the landscape. The only other colors visible were the almost barren leafy brown and green shrubs that hissed in the breezes.
This particular arch attracts plenty of tourist flocks a year, and rightfully so. It is the largest free-standing arch found in the entire park. Roundtrip, this trail is roughly 3 miles, but will have a run for your money. Everywhere from the entrance to the park, all the way to the start of the actual trail, there’s signs and park rangers warning you about the dangers of climbing the trail without proper equipment. Do not and I mean do not try to hike this trail without the proper amount of water. I really can’t stress this point enough. It will be hot. You will be miserable. The entire park is practically red for crying out loud, if that’s not a tell-tale sign, I don’t know what is.
Because you’re in direct sunlight with absolutely 0 shade, you’ll want to die. That’s okay. It’s normal. Soon enough, after the main part of the trail, you’ll be hidden behind some elevated rocks that will shelter you from the grim reaper himself. And then, the Delicate Arch will peep its hefty body around the corner, and you’ll be floored by the astounding fact that this entire creature before you was created by nature, through nature, for nature, and last but not least, for you.
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