Arches is one of the best places to hike with little ones. It's busy for sure but the hikes are very manageable. The kids were amazed by Gobblin Valley, so I was a little worried that Arches might disappoint but they loved it!
The family picture below may tell a different story but really they all did love it.
Soren unfortunately, got a sliver on the trail up to the overlook to Delicate Arch and was a grump until he got a fruit by the foot from the car.
Darin is the sliver master...seriously he is so good with detail work, he should be removing cancer and tumors for a living.
Sand Arch is my new favorite.
I am slightly obsessed with the feeling of sand in my toes so this was delightful.
I overheard a little girl say to her parents "I can't stop enjoying myself!" That is how I felt exactly.
Byron's teacher collects sand from her travels so we snuck some sand in a ziplock bag (notice Bub's hood). She probably has sand from Arches but I like to encourage any thoughtfulness my kids come up with. B is suppose to give her the sand today but he is really nervous about it. He says it will be "awkward" (which is what he says about EVERYTHING) but I hope he goes through with it.
We went down to the visitors center for a really windy picnic while the winds kept getting worse and worse. My parents loaded up Marcus and Wyler and said "we are out of here" but I didn't want to be done impressing my kids with nature!
So we braved the winds to see Double Arch.
On our way up the trail a family coming down warned us that the winds were getting scary and dangerous.
The winds were strong and we took shelter a couple of times but it was more of an adventure than dangerous. Byron won the quote of the trip award for saying out of the blue "The only dangerous thing about this wind is that it is stirring my toots around!"
It started to rain a bit, and as we looked down towards Moab it was a red dusty mess so we decided to head out as well. So nice to know that we can stop in Price after a long day of adventure. One of the beauties of that place is that it is 2 hours from everything! When we got there we met Sandi, the competitive skier from France, Westminister graduate and hitchhiker in my parents kitchen. My parents had picked up on their way home. Classic parents, and one of the most impactful parts of the weekend for Miriam. She has been talking about the girl from France ever since.
