Moab Day 2 - Arches National Park - Landscape Arch

We spent our second day in Moab at Arches National Park.  We absolutely loved it!  It was kind of a lot of work for the kids to do so much hiking in one day, but we tried to keep it fun for them and not push them too hard.  They were really good sports and seemed to enjoy getting to hang out outside literally all day long, and they were somewhat interested in the terrain as well.

Our first hike was to Landscape Arch.  At 306 feet long - longer than a football field - it is (possibly) the longest arch in the world.  But a large slab of it fell off in the 90's, and it is only 6 feet thick at its thinnest point, so we wanted to be sure we saw it during this trip, since it might not last much longer.  Also, it was the longest hike of the day, so we thought it best to get it finished first.

All ready for the first hike of the day!  But where's Jack?

Oh, now I see him.

This was only a one-mile hike (each way) but it felt like it took forever because the kids were more interested in playing in the snow than they were hiking.  We knew we would be moving slowly and letting the kids play along the way so that they would enjoy themselves, but we really preferred to move and not hang around and dig in the snow.  We could do that at home!

We took a detour and explored this little hill.

Then we took turns running down it.

E and me running down the hill.  This picture is out of focus, but I still like it!

Well, I guess I should have said that some of us ran down the hill and some of us, umm, fell down.

Ben was such a trooper.  We planned on bringing a hiking backpack (courtesy of our landlords, who said we could use it whenever we wanted) but ended up forgetting it when we packed up the car.  Oops!  So Ben spent quite a bit of time with one toddler on his back and one in his arms.  Of course, I carried kids too... but Ben did more.

One cool thing about going to the park in winter is seeing evidence of all of the wildlife that lives there.  Check out these tracks!  Apparently the park is home to a bunch of big horn sheep, as well as rabbits and other animals.  Looks like there were a few things walking around here this morning before we arrived.

So Utah's supposed to have the best snow on earth, right?  Well, I don't know if it's the best, but I have to admit, it is pretty.  Can you see how sparkly it is?  Is that because of the dry climate?

At last, we found Landscape Arch!  Eliza was excited on the inside.

After our hike up Bridal Veil Falls over the summer, it seemed that the enticement of a treat for all hikers who reach their destination with a good attitude was a tradition I needed to continue.  Cat had been asking for a caramel apple in the days before our trip, so I made a batch of caramel apples and brought them to Moab with us.  I know, it was kind of a strange choice for a treat, but we enjoyed them nonetheless.  (Well, Cat had a loose tooth - her first! - by the time we started the trip so Ben had to cut hers into pieces, then she enjoyed it.)

After reaching the arch, it seemed that Eliza felt like quite the hiker.  She was ready to tackle a primitive trail!

Everywhere we looked, the rock formations were just cool!

Here are E and me finishing the hike back to the parking lot.  I'm carrying E like this because she was adamant about not being carried.  But she didn't want to walk, either.  She wanted to loiter.  But it was lunch time and some members of the party needed to use the restroom and little miss E needed a fresh diaper, therefore loitering was not an option.  So I carried her, literally kicking and screaming, for a while until I got us out of there.

Cat's last hoorah before we left to eat lunch was climbing on this fin (tall flat rock formation).  You go girl!

Stay tuned for more adventures in Arches National Park...