Sunday, June 21, 2026
What a day! Our day started at 4:30 am when we left our campsite to head into Arches National Park. We were determined to make it to Delicate Arch to watch the sunrise over the park. The early wake up call was worth it. We arrived at the trailhead around 5:15, before daylight. The hike was then a 1.5 mile ALL UPHILL hike to the top. Our kids beat us all there but Jaci, Scott, Johnny & I were not too far behind. We made it in time to sit and take in the view and then watch sun come up over the rocks in the horizon. We spent some time marveling at God’s creation then started our trek back down. It was much easier and faster than the trip up. Would I do it again, absolutely. The hike was difficult but defintely worth doing, and doing early in the morning before the temps rise.
We had 3 miles in before 7:30 am, that left more time to get in a few more miles. We decided to go explore the Windows area of the park. This area may have been my favorite. We hiked around rocks and climbed up through some of the arches. Well, some of us did. Some decided the view from the ground was just as good and opted not to scramble up through the rocks. Two more miles of hiking down we left this area see what else the park had to offer.
We spend the rest of the day driving through the park and stopping at the many viewpoints along the way. We briefly considered another hike in the Devils Garden area but by that time the temps were rising fast, our legs were tired from the early morning hike, and we were hungry. So, we made the return trip back through the park with brief stops at Balanced Rock and the Arches Visitor Center.
We were back at camp by 1pm, ready for lunch and some naps before our evening activities. I’m not a napper but multiple days of early mornings, plus today’s early morning and hiking had caught up to me and I crashed for a couple hours. I must say, if you are planning a summer trip to the desert, finding a mid day place to soak up some AC and get refreshed is a must. It was well over 100 degrees today and I was grateful for a cool place to relax.
We spent the evening celebrating Noah’s birthday. Yep, Noah spent his birthday waking up for a sunrise hike and actually loved it. We all went out for dinner in Moab, which included ice cream and singing. Then we came back to camp where we had more ice cream cake.
Arches National Park is park is #16 on our list of parks visited and I’d put it in my top 5 so far. We’ll see if one of the next 4 parks we’ll see on this trip knock it down in rank. Our country’s national parks are beautiful and I love sharing these experiences with our kids and friends.
