Take 2: The Arches Devil's Garden

Hopefully you have read the post Take 1: The Arches, for this will be a continuation from that post. The day we did The Arches; Windows & Delicate Arch, we took a bunch of pictures and videos with Jamie's new camera but when we went to retrieve them, saw that somehow everything had been erased. Panic set-in...that was a full day of hiking, scouting, fun & memories...now what? How do we get them back without having to do the hikes again? We were both willing to do the day over, but were also ready to do some new hikes and see new sights. Jamie thought he might be able to recover them, so yesterday morning we woke, packed the van and went to the McDonald's in town for their wifi. We thought it would take about an hour or two, but after sitting and trying for a very long time, we were almost ready to give up. At the end of about 4 1/2 hours Jamie found a program called Jihosoft Photo Recovery that we had to buy at around $40.00. Sounds a bit pricey but now we have the program and can recover anything and, thankfully, were able to recover every single video and every single picture! Hooray!!

Although a bit mentally exhausted, the timing worked out well, for it was now rounding around to about 5 o'clock. It wasn't a very hot day so it was perfect timing for us to go back into the park to do a new hike. We drove into the Arches and headed for the North part of the park where Devil's Garden sits. We were pretty much the only ones at this part of the park now and with the Sun moving around the big fins of rocks, the van and the trails were getting a ton of shade.  

 This time I was much smarter about what I wore; a loose breathable tank, shorts, closed toes shoes and we both wore our Camelbacks for water...much nicer experience. We started on the trail walking between these gigantic fins on both sides of us, it winds up and down through trees, sand and cactus taking us to an open area with wooden fence posts around it. 

This area is the Landscape Arch~ a very cool area and arch that has been blocked off with the fence so people won't get hurt. In 1991 some people had hiked up to the arch and took a break sitting underneath it, they heard what they thought was thunder but was actually the archway rock breaking loose and falling to the ground, three slabs measuring 30, 47 & 70 feet long fell...I think I'm good standing behind the fence!

 There were a lot of people on this part of the trail so we took some pics and moved on a little faster than usual. The next part of the trail was about medium, some easy walking to some light climbing until I looked up and saw some people walking down these boulders...and I mean HUGE boulders going towards the heavens! 

Can you see the itty bitty people up top?

 I started doubting myself and my abilities and scaring myself. As I contemplated what I was going to do, the people now were closer to the bottom and saw that I was having some thoughts. They told me, "Grandpa just turned 70 and if he can do it, you can do it." Then Grandpa came down and said, "You've just gotta make it over those boulders, then you're home free!" 

 I appreciated the kind words but I felt like, Now I have to push past my fears and do it...ugh! We let anyone behind us go ahead and then started the climb...I climbed on all fours as Jamie walked up the rock behind me. It was scary and some parts were much scarier than others, but I did it and Grandpa was right, once on the top, the trail went back to trees, sand and slick rock.

SUCCESS!

No Fear!

  I can't remember how long the trail was to that point but once you get to the top you have a few options; Double O Arch which I think was another 2-3 miles, Navajo Arch & Partition Arch. Since the two arches were in the same direction, that made our decision. It turned out to be a pretty easy hike on flat ground and much more awesome than we had anticipated. 

 The Navajo Arch was the first of the two and (for me) the most amazing part of the park. We could definitely "see" people living here centuries ago. Everything was so green and lush and with the rock walls, the temperature was much cooler inside...it was like a cave but with a split in the ceiling. quite amazing to see. 

 As we were leaving we saw a guy by himself walking to the mouth, since he was alone I asked to take some pictures of him and was able to catch his reaction on film. He told us he had come from Germany a couple of years ago and came here last year but somehow missed this arch...the only reason for the hike today was just for this! Cool!!
Next up...Partition Arch, not a very long hike from Navajo, seemed like 50 yards or so but probably just a bit longer. 

 We sat and took in the view for a few minutes. I took my shoes off for a few brief minutes as well...my feet are not used to being inside socks or shoes so they cramp up easily, gotta let those tootsies breathe! haha

 It is quite amazing to be able to see these arches in person as well as sit underneath them. It gives a whole new perspective to these giant features, it's so cool!

From here, we decided it was getting too late and would be dark in no time to do any more hikes to the further away arches so we started back for the van, we had a good 2 miles to go and my knee was pretty much done for the day. With the Sun starting to really retreat behind the massive fins and boulders, the view kept changing with different light hitting different areas and was really neat to see the trail like this.


And I had to climb down "Grandpa's big ass boulder"... that turned out to be way more scary than going up! But I did on all fours, backwards though, if you can imagine that!

We made it back, pretty much as the sun was setting...perfect timing! When we got back to the van the very first thing I did was take off those damn foot prisons (shoes) and found a big pile of sand in there....oh well, back to my flops for now! 

It was a beautiful hike on a beautiful evening and I am just so glad we were able to capture new memories and footage. I wonder what tomorrow will bring....?

Have a great day!
PEACE

 

The Winds of Change are Upon Us

The days are getting "shorter". It gets dark earlier every night. The weather is getting cooler each day. It's definitely changing around us. We welcome the change but we also feel a different energy in the air that is strong to us, for us to also make a change. We took a morning walk, hand in hand with coffee in the other and we talked about the change in energy.

[caption id="attachment_1097" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Huntin' Bug[/caption]

 On our walk we decided it was time for us to move on, we have some business to take care of and it's just time. We walked over to all the camps and told everyone that we would probably be gone by Tuesday or Wednesday. It was sad to say our first good-byes but we are friends and friends always meet again some time some place. So it will be good-bye for now...not forever. Jenn totally surprised me with a box of Sweetarts as well....isn't she just a Sweetheart❣It wasn't even on their list! haha

[caption id="attachment_1100" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Best sweetarts I had all day![/caption]

We hung out for a bit had some lunch in the van and even woke up poor Savannah from her Beauty Nap while eating some potato chips!

[caption id="attachment_1101" align="aligncenter" width="300"] You rang?[/caption]

We were talking about still moving over to the "new spot"...maybe...?? So we got ready and walked it again to see if the van could make it. It really is open and pretty over there with much different views but still great.

After spending a good amount of time here we thought we would explore more of the trails around us while we were still here...and it was light out. We took off into the forest, just checking everything out that we came across. It was a little 'stressful' to me just because you never know what you are going to run into in the woods (of course we're prepared but it's still a 'foreign' place).

[caption id="attachment_1103" align="aligncenter" width="225"] We're in deep[/caption]

 We walked about 3-4 different trails. We walked the trail behind our camp, where the dead-end is. We came up on the most beautiful rocks and trees, it was awesome to have this right here in front of us... and to think this was here the entire time. It wasn't the easiest walk ever but definitely not the hardest.

I like that we can walk in four different directions and see such an array of things. I also always love being able to walk in the direction of Joon Van. She is definitely home and there is always a safe feeling when you see her again.

[caption id="attachment_1106" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Home sweet Home[/caption]

PEACE

Mocked by an Iceless Cooler

 Even with the days being different most of them usually just intertwine into each other and make for one really long day instead of 7 separate days! This week some very chilly showers have been taken, the weather is changing a little bit at a time each day but the winds that come through here can be a bit extreme...especially when you're 'nekkid' and wet!

[caption id="attachment_832" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Clean and pristine jellybean[/caption]

I cleaned our grill...didn't know it was that nasty. We actually had an interesting night the other night, okay... You know how we were trying out that new iceless cooler (Thermoelectric)? Well we bought it last Saturday, we plugged it into our system and it did really good the first 36 hours, it got down to 34 degrees...not too shabby! We did our other errands in Fresno (with sun hitting the solar the entire day) and headed back up the mountain. We kept it plugged in the first night into the next day and woke up to a mostly cloudy day, our solar was on a yellow light just about the entire day...not good. We unplugged the cooler during the night due to the temperatures being much cooler when the sun's not out. The next day was cloudy too and the solar barely caught up to a green light. We went through this for the next few days, plugging this thing in and unplugging that thing, until finally we were at a loss with yellow lights on the solar and having no cold food...we were going to have to return it. I think about the last night or so we were going to cook all of the chicken so it wouldn't go bad and actually J' was going to cook ME dinner! What a treat!! When he went to get the chicken (that we forgot to bag-out into different bags) out of the cooler, I guess it took him a minute to process what was going on. There was chicken juice all over the bottom of the cooler, like 2 inches thick. Thank goodness we just had sodas in there at that point. So he took the bag and rushed it over to the "kitchen" all the while it's pouring out of the bag everywhere...in the van, in front of where we open our side door, all the way to the grill, on top of the table, the grill, the garbage...it was a HUGE mess. He ended up making dinner very quickly due to all of our hundred thousand new yellow jacket friends that wanted to partake in our juice party! We ended up being prisoners in the van for the rest of the night due to the volume of the little buggers. The next morning I woke up and looked straight at the grill to see if they were still around...there were still loads of them, great! I got up, unhooked the grill from the propane and went to the other side of the rocks to clean it. I didn't have anything to really scrub it with, so I just got some of our Simple Green and some aluminum foil (for a scrubbie) and went to town (the foil actually worked). Boy, did she need it too! I figured this would be a good pre-cleanse before we take off in the next month or so anyway.

[caption id="attachment_834" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pretty darn clean![/caption]

 So after our whole grill-chicken-yellow jacket thing and a lot of cleaning everywhere, we decided that the "cooler" has to go back, it's just sucking way too much power and it's just not for us. We would take it back in a couple of days, all of our meat is already cooked and we were waiting for a package to be delivered to Shaver Lake in the next couple of days so we could wait. The following day was pretty much full of boredom, there are just those days that nothing you do is fun or motivating and you just want it to be a new day or you want to be somewhere or do something different. We went down into the brush and walked around, probably a bit too comfortable with nothing but shorts and flops on. I mean, if there were snakes and goblins anywhere it would definitely be where we were walking, but being up here so long and not seeing anything you get a little too lax I think. We walked around, in bushes, through rocks and their crevices...I was actually pretty proud of myself for not freaking out. I was more scared of spiders than anything because those things are so small you can't even see them half the time then, you look over your shoulder and there they are sitting there, along for the ride....creepy!

[caption id="attachment_838" align="aligncenter" width="225"] In the brush[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_839" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Bug in the brush[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_840" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A different view of our camp site! From down unda'[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_841" align="aligncenter" width="225"] She's so cute![/caption]

After our hike through the woods, we sat for a little while longer and then J' wanted to go for another round of walking...probably the most "exercise" he's gotten in one day in a while (all he does is work!). We were just going to walk up to say hi to SoulRaven but when we got there, he wasn't there so we kept walking down to The Passion Post where "the town" was a buzzing! Everyone was there sitting around, chit-chatting.

They had all gone down to Shaver Lake for the day...our invitation was lost in the mail I think! It's all good, they invited us to go with them this coming Tuesday which I'm super super duper stoked about, I've been wanting to go to the lake this whole time but it's kind of hard with one vehicle which, even if I could have it for the day, would not be driving out of here myself...not on these rocks! J' always wants to work and I tell him he needs a mental break sometimes but he never wants to take it, so I'm stoked to go play with the other kids in the neighborhood, get some good sun and just take it all in from a different perspective! Oh and Miss Trish got us some awesome seasonings, what a sweetheart thinking of us like that! Thanks Miss Trish...love ya doll!

[caption id="attachment_844" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our food even gets yummy stuff![/caption]

 We are planning on Fresno tomorrow to return that cooler so wish us luck and I'll let you know how it goes and what we get to put in its place. Tata for now my peeps.

PEACE