Broken Arch (Arches National Park, Utah)

After taking a couple of hours rest during the hottest part of the day, I decided to do another hike in Arches National Park. Directly across from my campsite, was a trail head listed as Broken Arch and offering distances to three other arches on interconnected trails. I've already logged over thirteen miles for the day, but . . . why not?

The trail to the first of the arches, Tapestry Arch, requires a fair amount of rock climbing, but is completely worth it. Even beyond the arch itself, I find a way to delicately reach the top of the Mesa. And who would have thought, but out here in the middle of the desert, I get a strong cell phone signal, unlike just about everywhere else in the park. I take a few minutes to catch up on texts and emails, before ascending to the top for one of the most spectacular views I have seen. I can see for miles in all directions. And everywhere I look, I see arches and sandstone pillars. Truly amazing.

Heading for the next Arch, I stop to take a few shots of a gigantic column just out here on its own in the desert. The majesty of this place is a tangible thing.

The remaining two arches on the hike, the namesake Broken Arch and Sand Dune arch are not nearly impressive as what has come before. I'm not even sure about their names, but the landscape itself is fantastic.

After departing Sand Dune arch, I decide to head back to camp, but noticing that I have over 40k steps for the day on my Fit Bit app, I decide to take a nice stroll back to the Devil's Garden trail head to knock out the 50k badge. While this final hike for the day was only about 2.5 miles, I walked and hiked a total of nearly 22 miles today. Not bad at all.