We defrosted after waking up to an electricity-free winter morning in our otherwise comfy cabin. First stop: junior ranger books at the Arches National Park visitor's center. Arches is a small and busy park but, as usual, wonder embraced us as we entered. How could we live so (relatively) close to this place and only see it now?
Next stop: Delicate Arch. We parked when the trailhead lot was about half full and by the time we returned the parking lot was full. The delicate arch trail starts flat and hilly, moving through rocks and washes but quickly ascends over slick rock and around the side of a rock face which was snowy and slippery but doable in late December. There were many people resting along the ledge of the bowl, waiting to take their turn photographing themselves inside of the arch.
We explored the bowl, took our picture and headed back, stopping to take a closer look at the layer upon layer of million year old sand.
This was a very slippery trail. We crawled and slipped and fell but it was worth it to see this thin but massive arch!
At the brink of a small 20 ft decline, people without traction devices, including us, were sitting on their butts and sliding down. The kids loved this and me, not so much. We made it back just before dark and headed into town for a late dinner. Moab is a hoppin' place during winter break! After waiting in line at two other places, we ended up happy, with a beer in hand, at Moab Brewery.