The Climb to Delicate Arch

“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”

— Muhammad Ali

We’ve come this far, we gotta do it, she said.

We’re not big hikers. I mean, we’re not in bad shape, but we’re not in great hiking shape. So, when the temps are quickly heading up to over 100 degrees, we better get an early start. Yep, another 4:30 AM wakeup call.

Delicate Arch is the most iconic arch in Arches National Park. If you’re familiar with any of the arches in the park, this is probably the one you’ve seen before. In fact, it’s even on Utah license plates.

But it’s not easy to get to. Starting at an elevation of 4197 feet, it would be 646 of elevation gain topping out at 4843 feet. Lisa logged it at 9572 steps, but this was no walk in the park. At least not for novice hikers like the Lengels.

Lisa was all smiles as we started the hike.

That was before she turned around and saw the first “slick rock” that we had to climb.

Notice how the light was quickly changing as she made it to the top of that first hill.

At this elevation, we were able to begin to get a view of the hills around us.

Up we went …

Time for a quick breather …

From here, we took in some nice views across the valley.

Looking back, we were proud of what we had accomplished thus far …

Time for another rest stop …

Hey Lisa, don’t look now, but here’s the next part of the hike!

Or, we can hang out for a bit and take some more portraits …

Through the hills and valleys we climbed. The light ever changing. At one moment the sun was over the horizon. Until we descended and ascended a higher elevation and were able to experience yet another sunrise. Yep, that tiny figure on the left of the horizon is Miss Lisa.

Over that ridge, it was time to pause and assess the next section of the climb. I think it was getting easier. All those spin classes were paying off. At least that’s what we kept telling ourselves. Mind over matter.

Nearing the summit, this was my chance to pass Lisa and watch her navigate the very narrow pathway, with a steep dropoff!

Above our heads, there was a small window, which our research told us that we were very close!

And while I was photographing the window, Lisa passed me, ‘cuz she just had to get to the summit ahead of me. Who knew she was so competitive. As I swung around and looked back up the path, there she was in the distance.

And finally … just around that corner … just a few more rocks to climb … and there it was. The Delicate Arch. With the not-so-delicate Lisa making a bee line for it. See her? Yep, that’s her. Right there at the base.