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Solitude
The recent release of The National Parks by Ken Burns seems to have reignited an interest in the park system. There are 58 designated national parks in the United States, not to be confused with national monuments and historic sites. As citizens, we share these treasures with our fellow Americans, as well as with tourists from across the world. I think it's great that six of them reside in the Four Corners region. And Moab is a great jumping-off point for two: Canyonlands and Arches.
Back in 2006, our family embarked on a year-long road trip to visit all of the national parks in the lower 48, including these two. Since moving to the area, we have been back to each a number of times. In Arches, we have seen all of the easily accessible arches. In Canyonlands, we have hiked through the Needles section and driven briefly through Islands in the Sky. Through our experiences, we have learned that it isn't difficult to find solitude without going too far.
As we made our way along the brushy expanse of highway into Utah during a recent Moab trip, we decided to explore something new in each of these two national parks. Since the boys were with us, the new things had to be kid-friendly. Instead of taking the same hikes to the ever-popular Sand Dune Arch or traveling along Slickrock trail in Canyonlands, we moved off road a bit. I am not anti-social, but sometimes it is nice to enjoy nature without a lot of other intruders.
There are many arches to see that have easy approaches along the main road of Arches, including Balanced Rock - a half-mile loop off the road and Double Arch - another half-mile walk to a picturesque site. Since there are more than 2,000 arches in the park, it was time to see some new ones. We had always driven past the turn-off for Tower Arch, but never bothered to take the 9-mile dirt-road drive to the start of the trail. On a heavily-populated weekend, it was a good choice. There weren't many people there. After slathering ourselves with sunscreen and pushing all the extra items that come with kids - snacks, jackets, and diapers for the youngest - into the pack, we hiked the 3.4-mile round-trip trail. Justin led our group over trail and past rock formations, leaving his handprints in the pristine sand along the trail's edge; Jeff toted Zane in the carrier; and I maintained the ongoing role of caboose with my camera. We ran into a few people along the way, but mostly we had the trail and the arch to ourselves for exploration. Back on the main road, we noticed the people at Sand Dune Arch (just off the road) were not as fortunate. A long line of vehicles was parked like dominoes along the roadside. Those tourists would not experience the joy of solitude like we had.
The next day, we spent another family day together in Canyonlands. Near Islands of the Sky Visitor Center, we veered off the main road onto the bumpy, slow-moving switchbacks of White Rim Road - a four-wheel drive descent into the canyon. Our intention was to go all the way to the Colorado River for some exploration, but we had proceeded so slowly that we only made it as far as Musselman Arch. It was well worth it. Aside from a half dozen others, it felt like we had a big portion of the park to ourselves. Musselman Arch is actually a bridge that spans over 80 feet of canyon. Despite his fear of heights, Justin made the trek across the bridge with Jeff. With some prodding, I stepped onto the bridge. But vertigo got the best of me, and I never made it across. Nonetheless, it was well worth the drive. Plus, we didn't have to wait for other tourists to move out of our frame-worthy shots of the arch.
Instead of returning via Schafer Trail, we took Potash Road back to Moab. As soon as we hit the paved road, we began our slow return to civilization: more vehicles appeared, more visitors were present, and our oneness with nature began to dissipate. With our budding paleontologist Justin along, we stopped briefly to view dinosaur tracks from a roadside lookout. We also jealously drove along Wall Street as climbers peppered the rock at the road's edge. We took in the neighboring petroglyphs that share the stretch of highway with climbing routes.
But soon, Arches and Canyonlands were in the rear-view mirror, and all that remained were the photographs and memories of the experience of being off the beaten path. But even the small amount of seclusion we enjoyed over the course of two days was enough to sustain us as we headed back into the world of hectic schedules, work, and traffic. At least for a little while.
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