Arches National Park. I think this was my favorite part of the trip. I’d slept pretty warm, what with having a sleeping pad and two sleeping bags to keep me warm. I had woken up a few times during the night to what sounded like someone sliding their hand alongside my tent. I figured that it was the wind and just kept sleeping.

I wake up and discover the true culprit. 4" of snow. The roof of my tent is sagging, and while I’d slept on a slight incline there was still water pooled where in the vestibule where I’d put my sandals. The sound I’d been hearing all night was sheets of snow sliding off the side of the rain fly. As I get up and start breaking camp, the people in the site next to me ask how I’d slept. They’re amazed I slept well, and ask if my tent is a winter tent. They’re even more shocked to find out that it’s a three season because the weight of the snow had collapsed their tent. Poor bastards slept in the car and froze for most of the night. Of course, they were from southern California, so who’s really surprised?

Pack up, have some jerky and water for breakfast, and notice the continued trend in the bathrooms- from Death Valley through Utah I had not yet stopped at a bathroom that had both soap and something to dry your hands with. I grumble a bit about this, but the sun’s up now so it’s time to get trail bound. I fill up my water and drive to the parking lot for the "Devil’s Garden" trailhead. Grab my stuff and head out.

The first thing I notice is that it’s freakin’ windy! I make it about two hundred feet down the trail, and the canyon walls are funneling the wind so badly I head back to the car to toss on an extra layer. At no point do I end up regretting this. I’d hoped to take the longer primitive trail loop, but they say to stay off it after rain or snow. I figure that I’ll just head to the "Double O" arch, a couple mile out, and see how that goes. If it goes well, I’ll give the primitive loop (which meets there and an earlier point on the trail) a shot. If not, I’ll have to get it next time.

Now, to do this justice I need to tell you that I am committing just about every camping sin there is. I brought no extra food, no light, no way to start a fire, no emergency gear period. I brought no extra clothing. I have no map or compass. I’ve never hiked this area before, and have no idea what I’m getting into. And best of all, I’ve given no one any reason to even think that I’m here, much less left any sort of route plan. It just makes it all the more fun that way.

Once I get past the first part of the trail the wind dies down considerably, and I can really take in how beautiful it is. I’m surrounded by massive red sandstone walls that are draped in a deep, soft looking blanket of snow. I’m the first one out, so the only tracks I see are my own.

The first arch I come across is the Landscape Arch, which had a huge chunk fall off in 1991. It’s a huge arch, and I’m really impressed by the scope of this place. I have to chuckle, because it warns that the most likely time for chunks to fall off is during the winter after rain or snow, since the precipitation gets into cracks and freezes. It’s nifty, because you can see the cracks and where the chunks are going to eventually come from. I did not, however, get the chance to see anything fall.

I start from that trail branch towards to "Double O" arch, and start to get my first inkling that this is going to be very interesting. The main trail goes up this gully, and almost immediately I come upon a slickrock "step" about four feet high. With the slick snow on it there’s now way I’m actually going up it. I find my way to the end and get on there, but I’m still being very careful. There’s then a steep grade, but at least there’s plenty of spots to put my feet. I take the spur to check out the Navajo and Partition Arches. The trail is beautiful, with snow dozing junipers scattered about. There's even a section of wall on the way to Navajo Arch that looks like it was made just for bouldering, and when I got back I'm going to give it a go. I take it in and hop back towards the main trail.

Here’s where it get really interesting. At one point the trail starts across a sandstone fin. Now, if you’ve never been across one, it’s like a giant round topped sandstone wall. You start up at one point where it’s low and walk across to another low point. It’s not too bad, because it’s only about 10' high- on the one side. It’s gotta be 30'+ on the other side, though, and as I said before- it’s freakin’ windy. Oh, and I’m also mildly acrophobic (pretty much in direct proportion to the height I’m at) and get vertigo. Not the greatest combo, but damn does it make this fun.

I finish getting across there without any problems, and I’m almost to the end of the trail. But here comes the problem. Before you get to the Double "O" Arch, the trail stops being anything like flat. It goes for about fifty feet along this sloped slickrock covered in loose snow over a very long, if steeply sloped (as opposed to sheer) drop off to the right. If there are any real footholds, they’re covered up by the snow. And it’s still windy.

I stop. If I slip up here, I’m screwed. It’s possible I could take the fall without major injury, but not very likely. That would be bad. But it’s really frustrating, because the arch I’m going to is quite literally around the bend here, and after that there’s only 1/4 mile of trail to the Dark Angel monolith. If I give up now, I won’t die, but I’ll be pissed at myself forever.

So I keep going. I get to the top of this slope okay, but that’s just the first 10-15 feet or so. The rest is down, which is much harder. Luckily, there’s a crack in the ridge, and while it ain’t the comfiest thing I’ve ever done, I slide down along it. I figure that a sore as is better than a broken neck. That takes me most of the way down, and I scramble the last few feet alright.
I check out the arch, and head over to Dark Angel. The desert is simply stunning here, because I can see forever off to the west, and the east is a field of steep snow covered sandstone fissures. I’m alone out here, except for snow, stone, and coyote tracks. It’s cathartic.

I head back, grateful I made the choice I did. Of course the way back up that damned slope isn’t easier. You see, it’s pretty easy to jump down four feet, but to hop back up is much trickier. So I have to start further down the slope, which means it’s longer to get to the fissure. And once there I see that what I’d started up before was the steepest part. I slip a couple times. Luckily, the wind dies off, and I can stand up and actually walk a littl- GUST OF WIND! It doesn’t blow me back, but it' strong enough to straighten me up and takes a few years off my life. If I hadn’t been close enough to the fissure to grab it’s lip, I would’ve gone down. Backwards. That would have sucked.

A couple more slips, some quick pondering whether or not prayers are gonna do me any good now, and I make it down. I start back, and soon see another couple coming up the rock fin I’d crossed earlier. They’re having a bit of trouble getting down. They’re either less sure-footed than I am or less reckless- or both. It doesn’t take me too long to reach them.

We chat for a bit when I get there. They’re from Colorado, and they’ve been here a few times before. They ask how the rest of the trail is. I’m honest- I would not recommend it, but hey, I did it. Considering the trouble they’re having on the fin, I’m glad they chose to turn back. I ask them how the primitive loop compares to the slope before Double O. They tell me that the slope is definitely the trickiest part, but that depending on how snow conditions were further along there could be a few areas that just aren’t passable. So I know that I made the right decision not going the primitive loop, but I’m always gonna wonder what the conditions really were.

I head back down the trail, check out a couple of arches closer to the parking lot. A lot more people are on the trail now, and I don’t spend a whole lot of time here. I head back to my car and after driving the wrong way down the road (the snow had covered the "one way" sign when I came in), head to my next destination.

Next up- Delicate Arches, bad lunches, and the Teeth of the Storm.