Summer Fun

Voices echo off of the damp red sandstone. Some in German, some in Italian, and others that are unidentifiable. The almost inaudible click of cameras are a steady background hum. The scrape of sneakers on the rough stone is a counterpoint. Fingers seek holds in the rock, muscles working in unison to pull yourself up the precarious cliff-face. Hands scrabble for purchase as climbers scuttle up the rock face and underneath the ridge that is Double Arch. Rain sheets out of the sky, mottling and then staining the exposed rock. The rough shelves remain dry, water cascading past. You could reach out and touch it. Peering over the edge, it is a wonder that you were able to get up here in the first place. From the bottom it seems impossibly high, and from the top, even more so. The rock is scarred from nature and people. Danny loves jenny, or so it says. And now to get down again. Sliding down, you swear you are going to wear a hole in the butt of your pants. It was worth it for the perfect shot, the shot that you only could have gotten from inside Double Arch.
******

The narrow canyon holds an even narrower path, twisting and turning. Revealing and then hiding breathtaking vista's. Our goal is Pine Tree Arch. Should have brought a walking stick.

********

Getting to Delicate Arch is no picnic. Slick rock itself seems a daunting task. It is three quarters of a mile to get to slick rock, up and down paths, that teem with hikers, both coming and going. and then you are faced with slick rock. A vast expanse of exposed red rock, steep and treacherous when wet. Carin lead the way. After slick rock you are faced with another though part of the trail, over and around you follow only the Carin. At last you come around a turn, and there it is, Delicate Arch, standing as a lone sentinel for the valley below.