Weather:  Very nice - clear sky with a few thin clouds.  Temperatures got into the low 80's at most, no wind.
Present were:  Gordon, K7HFV;  Clint, KA7OEI;  Mike, K7DOU;  Chris, KB7TPO;  Ron, K7RJ and is son Dennis, KC7KDX
Destination:  The Fiery Furnace (in Arches National Park.)  We later visited Tower Arch which is also in the park.
Total distance:  We aren't quite sure...
Times:  To be added.
Altitudes in feet ASL (approx):To be added.
Elevation gain/loss (approx):To be added.
Local sunrise/sunset on this date:  6:47 am/8:08 pm

Images (336-1160k each, .JPG):

Fiery Furnace:

IMG01896 -  Chris and Gordon conversing at the trailhead/parking lot.
IMG01902 - At our dead-end, I shot some pictures of Dennis and Ron - and they decided to shoot back...
IMG01912 -  Clint, at the small arch.  (Yes, I'm really standing on an arch, although it doesn't really look like it...  Pardon the image artifacts:  It was somewhat underexposed due to the background...)
IMG01914 -  Ron and Dennis sitting on the arch.
IMG01917 -  Skull Arch.  Similar is #1916.
IMG01918, #1921, #1923 - Various shots into fins.
IMG01927 -  On our detour, Dennis and I found a cool crack/slot.  This is a shot from inside that.  Similar is #1924
IMG01930 -  A Shot down the fins with a familiar backdrop.   Yes, that fin is leaning... Similar is #1931
IMG01933 -  Gordon, wending his way through a slot
IMG01934 -  Along the trail, we met these three hikers scaling the wall...
IMG01935 -  Ron, working his way long the slot near Surprise Arch.
IMG01938 -  Another shot down fins toward familiar territory.  Similar is #1937.
IMG01941 -  Dennis, trying to shimmy up the slot.  (Sorry for the blur...)
IMG01942 -  Dennis, walking across the top of Surprise Arch.
IMG01947 -  A view down into Surprise Arch from the slot.  Similar is #1945.
IMG01950 -  Skyward view of Surprise Arch.
IMG01952 -  A view up the fins (past Surprise Arch)
IMG01953 -  Down the fins, to the La Sal mountains.
IMG01954 -  The trail goes through this crack...

Tower Arch:

IMG01959 -  Dennis and Ron, about to start up the sand dune slog to Tower Arch.
IMG01961 -  Across the landscape through Tower Arch.
IMG01962 -  Gordon (left) and Mike climbing down from inside the arch.
IMG01963 -  Tower Arch.
IMG01966 -  Ron, while of taking a picture.  #1972 shows Ron, not taking a picture...
IMG01967 -  Fins and shadow (near Tower Arch.)
IMG01975 -  One of the Towers at Tower Arch.
IMG01979 -  Sunlight filtering through a slot in a tower just across from the arch.
IMG01980 -  The three soldiers (I think...)  See also #1984
IMG01983 -  Fins near the soldiers.  See also #1982.
IMG01986 -  Tower Arch trailhead, from above.
IMG01989 -  Dinosaur Tracks along the Klondike Bluffs road.  See also #1991.
IMG01994 -  Tower Arch from a distance - along the Klondike Bluffs road near the highway.  Due to the long lens, failing light, and long exposure, the picture is somewhat noisy.  The top part of the Arch's arc may be seen mid-picture, just above the white rock.

Maps/profiles:

• GPS track within the Fiery Furnace.  I probably should have increased the tracking detail on the GPS receiver...  At some point I'll try to overlay this on a more detailed map and "smooth" the track a bit.

This was one of those "3 AM" trips for most of us.  Mike had left Salt Lake the day before and had been roughing it in a Motel in Green River.  The rest of us did the "3 AM thing" and arrived in Green River shortly after 6 AM.  At that time, we began calling Mike on the radio, trying both simplex frequencies and the Sinbad system.

Gordon had noticed that Mike's APRS track indicated that he'd stopped along the old highway (paralleling I-70) a few miles East of Green River, so we headed along that road to see if we could spot him.  Getting to the Crystal Geyser road (and not having seen him yet) we thought that he might have stayed there overnight.  Just a half-mile or so short of the Geyser, he suddenly appeared on the radio - from Green River.  Backtracking, we met at the Westwinds, had breakfast, and planned our day.

We entered the park through the original park entrance - except for Mike (and, now, Chris, who decided that it was more comfortable to ride in the passenger seat of Mike's car rather than in the back seat of Clint's jeep) who went directly to the visitor's center to get the appropriate permits and information.  About halfway through our trip along the old road, Mike appeared on the radio and announced that we'd all need to be present for the issuance of the permit - and to watch the instructive video about the do's and don'ts of hiking within the Fiery Furnace.

In due time we got to the Visitor's center and dutifully watched the video, paid our fees, and took off again, permit in hand and arrived at the trailhead of the Fiery Furnace a little while later.  After gearing up, we headed off down the trail - and suddenly found ourselves at a dead end at the overlook.  Deciding that that's what we had really intended to do, we backtracked and started down the trail, got to the bottom of the canyon and proceeded down it - to a dead end.  Deciding that that's what we had really intended to do, we backtracked to the main trail junction and ran into a guided group:  We quickly explained that we'd really intended to go that way because of the nice view of the valley and quickly headed up into the fins ahead of them.

Soon, we found our selves at a nice arch:  After the obligatory pictures (and once the tour group arrived) we proceeded to along the loop trail and (after yet another brief detour) got on the trail again, making the obligatory visit to Skull Arch and briefly explored some of the fins in that area.  Upon arrival of the tour group, we continued to follow the trail farther into the fins.

At some point, Dennis and I took off and climbed further into the fins, leaving the group behind:  We weren't sure that we weren't actually following the trail until we came to a place that seemed to be too much of a climb for someone less well-initiated - but we continued up anyway, briefly exploring a few of the fins near the top.  Eventually Ron appeared and we returned to the group for lunch.

After our respite, we began to continue to commence to start mosey up the trail and at one intersection of some fins we could see a group of three young hikers in the slot below, puzzling about how to get up to where we were.  While they seemed familiar with the Fiery Furnace in general, they didn't seem to realize where they were until they'd managed to scale a wall and get up onto the main trail.  They more-or-less followed us to the next attraction - Surprise Arch - up a dead-end fin just off the main trail.  Having been there before, they proceeded to demonstrate how to "chimney" up a crack to gain access to the top of the arch and the surrounding area - and Dennis and I followed while the rest of the group hung around down below.  This group then proceeded onto another fin, making a leap that neither Dennis or I was prepared to do, as we weren't sure that the reverse trip would be practical.  After a few more minutes of poking around, we returned to the group, dropping through the same crack that we'd climbed up.

A little bit more hiking put is back at the trailhead/parking lot and, being that it was only about 3 PM, we decided to make a quick trip to Tower Arch and headed down the road to the trailhead.  This arch is in the Klondike Bluffs area and was only a 3 mile (or so) round trip.  Once we got to the arch (except for Chris, who stayed to guard the fort and read a book) we lounged lazily underneath it, absorbing the warmth of the sandstone, the sun, and the surroundings as well as resting our eyelids.  By the time we started back, the sun angle - while not yet at that "magic hour" - was casting more favorable light on the landscape, enhancing both shadow and color.

Returning to the trailhead, we continued down the road and decided to take the Klondike Bluffs road back to highway 191.  This old mining road is, in a few places, quite rough, requiring both high clearance and 4-wheel drive to navigate the steps and boulders.  A short distance up this road is an old mining shack which, after each passing year, is flatter and flatter, having collapsed only within the past decade.

Bouncing down this road further took us along a long stretch of slickrock.  Otherwise unremarkable, this stretch of road is pockmarked in places with many dinosaur tracks which we briefly investigated in the dying light.  After a few more miles of bouncing along the road, we met the blacktop of highway 191.

Dinner was at the usual place:  The Price Pizza Hut.  After this, we went our ways home, dropping Chris and Dennis off in Utah county, arriving at our own homes at about 1 AM (except for Mike, of course, who still had a half hour to go...)

Comments:

• Most of the pictures of the rock art have been contrast-stretched to enhance visibility.
• If you want one (or more) of these images and wish some sort of adjustment (color, brightness, exposure, etc.) please let me know:  All of these image have been processed in some way.
• These images are in .JPG format and are in chronological order.
• No-one ever said that all of these images (or any of them) were good.  Some of them have definite focus/exposure "issues."
• EXIF data is present for most of these images showing time, date, and precise exposure conditions.  Recent versions of Irfanview will show this in the "View->Image Information->EXIF" tab.
• As noted in EXIF data, all images taken using a Sigma SD-10 camera using the 18-50mm or 55-200mm zoom lenses.

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This page updated 20050418.  All text and images copyright 2005 by Clint Turner