An hour or so before sunrise, I awoke from a restful night's sleep in Fruita Campground and started getting ready for my next adventure on this trip - a guided tour of the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park. It's about a two hour drive from the campground in Capitol Reef National Park to the visitor's center at Arches, where I'm required to check in for my reservation for the tour and so, I wanted to get an early start.
I've visited Arches National Park a few times in the past and always wanted to explore the maze-like area known as the Fiery Furnace. To enter this area though, you must either reserve a guided ranger-lead tour or get lucky enough to get one of the seventy-five wilderness permits available each day. Not wanting to risk the drive only to be turned away, I opted to make a reservation for the guided tour some months ago, which worked out well in the larger scope of my weekend trip to Capitol Reef.
After checking in and quickly going through some illustrations of the physical challenges required to travel through the maze of red sandstone, I hop back in the jeep and drive the thirty or so minutes into the park, arriving at the trailhead about twenty minutes before start of the tour. I spend a few minutes getting my pack in order and using the restroom.
Eventually, I notice Ranger Juliette standing by the entrance trail into the Fiery Furnace. I walk up and introduce myself and show her my pass. She welcomes me and asks me to put the pass on the jeep's dash. I return to the group of twelve explorers that is now forming around the ranger and we do a quick round of introductions before heading off into the canyon. Juliette does her best to caution everyone again of the physical challenges required, but everyone nods their acceptance and we head into the maze.
The first section, while the easiest part of the tour, is still quite steep and requires some maneuvering. One gentlemen in our group wipes out, but luckily only hurts his pride. Continuing on to a small open section, the Ranger begins giving us an overview of the tour and we head into the rougher terrain. As we travel along, she mentions the Leave No Trace principles and even discusses cryptobiotic soils within the area and how we should step carefully to avoid damaging them. It's great to hear this and I mention to her my own training in Leave No Trace.
As we continue on, the discussion moves to the topic of wilderness areas and what they means to each of us. She has even prepared some discussion generating activities, which I greatly appreciate. She's obviously passionate about this ideas, as am I, but I love the fact that she is sharing and educating the group as we pass through such a place of wonder.
As we continue on, we encounter a number of tight squeezes and steep climbs. There are few places where we must jump across short distances from one cliff or boulder to another. In one of the more challenging areas, we are even forced to stem our bodies to pass through. This requires bracing ourselves against two opposing walls and using the pressure to prevent ourselves from slipping while we slowly move forward. It's not overly challenging, but certainly provides a great and fun experience.
As we make our way out of the canyon, Juliette tells us to look upwards and we are shocked to see another large arch crossing a span above our heads. This is Surprise Arch and it is appropriately named, as it was quite a surprise to see it there. I thank the Ranger for her time and dedication to these things, which I care so much about and then return to the jeep. The tour was about 4.1 miles total, but that number may be off a little bit as GPS reception in the slot canyons of this maze of sandstone is not super reliable. This was a great experience and I hope to visit again someday, perhaps exploring on my own.
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