First hike of the trip was out to False Kiva, we put on our snow pants and made our way down the trail that was covered in 6-12″ of snow. Luckily someone had made the hike a few days before us and did most of the dirty work of breaking trail. We were very pleased to see that the steepest section of trail was only muddy rather than snow covered. We spent about an hour shooting photos at the Kiva before we hiked backup the hill to the car, round trip the hike was under 3 hours.

Next hike was Aztec Butte where there was at least 8-10inches of snow. The first 1/4 mile or so was packed down nicely but we had to break quite a bit of trail to the slick rock and across the top of the butte to reach the ruins.

We made two quick stops to walk around the Green River Overlook and hike the Mesa Arch loop before we headed off to Dead Horse Point for sunset.

Mesa Arch

Dead Horse Point

Sunday morning we got an early start and headed directly to the Devils Garden in Arches. Again 8-12 ” of snow covered the trails but at least this time the trail was packed down and well traveled all the to Landscape Arch.

What was once Wall Arch (right side).

Navajo Arch

Partition Arch

Beyond landscape Arch the trail became a bit epic near the now fallen Wall Arch and on the fin leading to Double Arch. Once we reached Double Arch I was post-holing well above my knees and there were no tracks headed out to the Dark Angel or on the loop towards Private Arch. We had plans to travel the entire primitive loop but without snowshoes we were not about to break that trail so we gave up and headed back the way we came. The hike to Double Arch and back with exploring all spur trails took us just under four hours in the snow.

Double Arch

Garden of Eden

After hiking and slipping for 5 miles or so with a side of sunburn we were pretty beat. We made a quick stop at the Garden of Eden view point then headed back to the hotel to shower and eat. We made a short hike up Millcreek before we headed back into the park just after sunset.

With our packs stuffed with down coats and camera gear my wife and I started our hike up to Delicate Arch about 15min after the sunset. We got quite a few strange looks from more than a few of the 40 or so people that were hiking down from the Arch. A few of them even stopped to warn us about the snow and ice on the trail above. We passed the last person we would see on this hike just below the slickrock and were forced to turn on our head lamps soon after. Between the large slick rock ramp and the bowl was the real tricky part of the hike because the puddles were starting to freeze over and in the dark it was hard to tell what was water, ice, or snow. Of course the most slippery, snow and ice covered portion of the trail was also the most exposed area just before the Arch. We made it to the Arch with only a few “oh shit” moments and dry feet but best of all we had the entire amphitheater to ourselves to take photos and enjoy before we headed back down to the car.

Cell phone shot of the icy trail on the hike down.

Before we left the park we stopped at Balanced Rock and Park Ave to shoot a few star trails under the new moon.

Next morning we just made a quick hike around primitive loop of the Windows before we headed home.