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Delicate Tale of Woe
Delicate Tale of Woe

My last Utah shot - saved for a Thanksgiving Day upload - takes us to iconic Delicate Arch in Arches NP.

I am definitely thankful for a lot - for the traveling to exotic places, for my wife who tolerates my travel to exotic places while she has to work, for my folks who either go or support my travel to exotic places, for my friends who often accompany me to exotic places, and to the folks who come check out my photos of exotic places. Awesome.

So - Delicate Arch. Definitely iconic - it's on the Utah license plate for crying out loud. Often seen as a standalone item, I wanted to put it in its place a little more - this amazing amphatheater with the Lasal Mountains beckoning in the background.

When I last visited Arches in 2003, I had a recollection of getting close to Delicate but in retrospect I now realize that no - we did not - we went to the overlooks, which start about a mile to the south and get a little closer. I remember this now because this year we took the hike to Delicate (you can walk right up and hug that sucker if you're so inclined) and it was a hike to remember. As in straight up - then up some more, followed by more up. It's only about 1.5 miles from the parking lot to the arch, but after maybe a half-mile on trail and switchback, it moves over to slickrock, and you're just walking across a very steep, seemingly neverending broad expanse of stone. There are cairns every 50-100 yards and you follow those up and up until you get to a little spot where the trail narrows to a shelf that's about six feet wide with a nice dropoff to one side. You wander up that for a couple hundred feet and then pop out on top of this rock and for the very first time on the whole hike - you see this seen laid out before you. What a finish!

The hike took way longer than we expected. Tim got up first - right at sunset and I got up a little after (I loved the people hiking down who had to remind me that I'd missed it all. Thanks for your misinformed opinion). This was actually the very first shot I took after sitting down and catching my breath. Normally you wouldn't see the first shot - I like to work it a bit - but... I had a little battery issue that allowed eight shots total before I was done with no options (hence the woe). That battery issue was due to a total misjudgment on my part but lesson learned again - it's good to start over in photography every once in awhile.

In the end - this shot was what I was after and as you know - even though I'm looking east/southeast here, the light just after sunset can be very nice.

Oh - and make sure - if you're photographing sunset at Delicate - to take some good flashlights for the hike down. Very dark, very steep, very treacherous at times. You would NOT get down without decent light in the dark. Just sayin!

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Taken on: October 30, 2011
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Sets appears in:   • Most Interesting    • Utah 2011 / 2012   
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