“There must be some kind of way outta here” – Jimi Hendrix
Today we hiked the Fiery Furnace at Arches NP all on our own! We arrived at the trail head a bit after eight, geared up and began descending to hike in the recommended counter-clockwise direction. One of the benefits of hiking on our own (with a permit of course!) was that we were allowed to explore the many side trails that branch off of the prescribed route. On yesterday’s hike with Ranger Mike I took note of several places that looked like they’d be fun to explore. The first detour we took was along a wash that borders the area to the south. Our best find there were some giant boulders that we scrambled around on while taking turns photographing each other. Molly even spotted a deer hiding the the vegetation in this area.
Eventually we were ready to move on and returned to where we had split from the trail. We repeated this many more times and found intriguing things around each corner. My favorite find was Inner Sanctum Arch, a large span that we hadn’t seen yesterday. The best part, though, may have been the near total isolation that we had while we were there. In a park filled with thousands of people we only briefly saw a couple tour groups and a couple other small groups all morning.
For the most part we were able to explore and return to the suggested route with little issue. However, toward the end of the hike we found ourselves on what we thought was the slot that led to Surprise Arch, but with none of the scenery or steps we were taking feeling familiar. We investigated as far up the canyon as we felt comfortable before deciding that turning around and retracing our steps was the best option. Of course, we had simply missed one of the small arrows marking the route and after a few minutes we’d climbed to the higher ledge that we were intended to be on.
With the rain that the park received last night many of the potholes in the rock were filled with water. We were hoping to be able to spot some spadefoot toad tadpoles. We were lucky enough to see them a couple years ago when we hiked Horseshoe Canyon before learning how amazingly adapted to life in the desert they are. We didn’t spot any this time, but hopefully they’ll get more rain soon and be able to come out of their borrows for a few weeks!
After finishing our hike we headed to the Visitor’s Center where Ellie and Zoe were sworn in as Junior Rangers by Ranger Mike. Ellie was also treated to a tour of the office area, so read her post for a peak behind the scenes! We had PBJ&C lunch in the furnace, but after a busy morning we were ready for a snack, so we headed back to the Moab Brewery for nachos and beer. This afternoon we got in a dip in the pool and blogging. Now we’re getting ready for dinner and stargazing with Ranger Mike!
