Arches - the trip ends

Warning: This is another long vacation posts with lots of pictures. It is mostly for us to remember what we did and for our parents to enjoy so if you don't want to know everything we did, feel free to skip, I won't be offended.

I mentioned before that Craig and I are getting better at planning our trips. We are also getting better at cooking outdoors. We always make oatmeal for breakfast and have lunchmeat sandwiches for lunch, a treat as it is a departure from our typical pb&j lifestyle. But in the past our dinners have been pretty boring. This time we were more adventurous. We made scalloped potato foil packets and let them roast over some coals and we grilled pork chops. Before we left, I made up the marinade and kept it in an old jam jar and put the still frozen pork chops in the cooler. Then Saturday at lunch I took the now thawed (but still cold) pork chops and poured the marinade over it in a Tupperware container. By dinnertime they were ready for the grill. I was worried the marinade would make a mess but it didn't and it really helped the pork get all dried out on the grill. While we ate dinner we made a cobbler in the dutch oven using a cake mix, canned peaches and a can of sprite. We also figured out the calorie content while we waited and let's just say it was a good thing we hiked 7 miles that day.

The next morning we got up early, at our oatmeal and picked up camp then headed our for our last hike, Devil's Garden to Double O Arch. It was a bit chilly at first but we wanted to avoid people. Nothing ruins a nice view like people chattering away. You also have a better chance of seeing animals in the morning, like this little bunny.
The hike was paved and easy up until Landscape Arch (behind us),
after that it became "primitive." Sometimes when they say that, it just means a little rocky. This time they meant it, there was lots of climbing up and over rocks, and close to the end we had to walk on a fin (a fin is what the rock is called before the middle wears away, then it is called an arch). It was pretty narrow with drop offs on both sides and really windy. The wind blew my hat off even though my pony tail was through the back. I felt like Mario in that Mario 64 game when if you walk on the one side of the mountain, he gets blown to the side. Anyone remember that? Maybe it's just me.Here's Craig on the fin, where the rock slopes off it drops down really far. Scary. There were a number of arches on the hike, like this one which I don't remember the name of...
and this guy, one half of Partition Arch, which, surprisingly enough, is partitioned in half to form two arches. They are so creative with the arch names.
And unlike some of the other hikes you could really get up into them and explore. But the real joy of this hike wasn't the arch at the end, I mean Double O was okay, but nothing like delicate. The Delicate hike was a hard, boring hike to get to a really pretty arch. Devil's Garden was a hard but pretty hike to get to a boring arch. By the time I got there I though I was going to die but it was worth it for the view near the end.
And, as it always is, the hike back went by much faster and easier. Even so, after 1.5 days of hiking, 13+ miles in all, we were ready to return to civilization. And thus ended our Second Annual Big Spring Camping Trip.