Day 16 - Highway To Hell?

We woke up having had a really good sleep. We were going hiking today, so we donned the appropriate gear, me - linen shirt, shorts & walking boots & Jackie - her Martina Navaratilova outfit. We sneaked out the campsite without being detained & headed for Arches National Park for the 2nd time.

We arrived at 10.00am, then sat in a queue until we finally gained entry at 10.30. We headed straight up to the car park for the Delicate Arch Trail, which is a round trip of 3 miles.The outward leg is mostly uphill to an elevation gain of 480 ft. As intrepid explorers, we set off with cameras & a bottle of water each, although Jackie failed to screw the top on properly and managed to water half of the trail!!

There was a steady procession of people ascending or descending the trail dressed up in all sorts of outfits. Some wore full mountaineering gear with balaclavas & sunglasses (mainly the Japanese & Chinese), whilst others wore vests, skimpy shorts & flip flops.

I am proud to announce that we overtook numerous people on the ascent, although we set off a bit fast & one re-overtook us. As we approached the top the trail narrowed to a ledge just wide enough for people to pass, then suddenly the Delicate Arch was there in front of us. I’m going to stick my neck out & say that this was the most impressive spectacle we have seen so far on this trip!

We took photographs from the little plateau where most people had gathered, but we noticed that some people had gone down on to a sloping rock that led over to the Delicate Arch itself. Mustering up all my bravery I slid down a rock on my backside to the sloping rock. I didn’t feel comfortable, but I encouraged Jackie to join me. She refused in her skirt, but undeterred she went further along & to my horror jumped down. Oh my god I panicked, if she had fallen forward she would probably have gone over the edge & to certain death.

Now a nervous wreck, we edged along the sloped rock towards the Delicate Arch & waited in line for the ultimate photo. Our turn arrived, but my legs were now jelly. I had to say to myself, “What would Evel do?” As a fellow daredevil, I had now choice & we shuffled to the foot of the Arch. I scrambled up a rock then hauled Jackie up for someone to take our photo.

When we got back on to the plateau it felt so exhilarating, but my heartbeat was out of control. I would that only about 10% of the people attempted to stand by the Arch. Feeling smug for the umpteenth time on this trip, we descended the trail with a bounce in our step.

Back at the RV we drove up to the further point Devil’ Garden Trailhead, where there were a number of trail options. We chose the 2 shortest trails to Pine Tree Arch, which was impressive & Tunnel Arch, which was a bit disappointing, well to Jackie anyway. I think she was all ‘arched’ out now.

We drove back towards the park exit, but stopped at Skyline Arch for lunch, well I visited the Arch, while Jackie made lunch. After lunch, we made our final stop at Park Avenue Viewpoint, where I popped out, then we left Arches NP at 2:30pm.

We rejoined Highway 191 & headed north bound for Salt Lake City some 200 miles away. After just 20 miles of driving the weather took a turn for the worse. We turned westbound on to I-70, past Green River, then back northbound on the 191. We had continued stopping the night at Green River, but so glad we didn’t. There was nothing there, made all the more bleak by the black clouds & rain.

For the next hour, we drove through driving rain & were battered by strong gusts of wind. The RV was seriously rocking & it felt like we were on the ‘Highway to Hell’. Apologies now. We passed through the god forsaken towns of Wellington & Price, then the weather changed so we stopped for a coffee in the quaint little Historic Mining town of Helper. Great name & we had the chance to see Big John.

The road then started climbing up into the Wasatch Mountains & into sunshine & fantastic scenery. We got over Soldier Summit and down the other side into a nice little town called Spanish Fork, where got a couple of provisions & $100 of fuel.

We then raced on through Provo & to the outskirts of Salt Lake City, with the sun beaming through my drivers window. The mountains were topped with snow & white clouds & as the sun shone through, it gave everything a silvery tint, which was quite beautiful even at 70mph.

But, just 3 mile from our KOA campground in the centre of Salt Lake City, we drove into a black cloud hanging over the City. The temperature had dropped about 10 degrees. We hooked up for the night, Jackie cooked hamburgers & had an early night.

FITBIT = 17,376 steps / 8.07 miles

Song of the Day - Highway to Hell by AC/DC.Read more