We had our lunch snack after a quick drive down to Fiery Furnace overlook, where we sat on rocks and took in the scenery. This is a portion of the park that hikers must either register, pay a fee, and watch a video in order to enter, or (and recommended) go on a ranger-led tour, as there are no marked trails. We didn't bother with it this time, but if we ever return, perhaps we will pay the fee and check it out on our own. It was fascinating, but printed park service literature gives dire warnings about hikers getting lost in it, so we decided to stick to marked trails this time!
Our next hike was to Delicate Arch, probably the most famous arch in the park. This is a 3-mile strenuous-rated hike, mostly up slickrock and then on ledges to Delicate Arch. The hike to the arch provides a much closer view of it than the view from an overlook that can be driven to. While hiking this trail, we ran into a large group of middle-school students, whom we found out were from Texas and were doing a 10-day field trip to several national parks. We sure never had field trips like that when I was in school! The kids were so nice and well behaved, with many saying hello to us, walking single-file so we could pass, and were not loud and boisterous at all. It was such a pleasant experience to be around such well-behaved children and seems all too rare in today's society! We praised their politeness to one of the group leaders, who thanked us and said she'd pass along the compliment.
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"The Fiery Furnace" |