August 21, 2005 - Detours

It was time to hit the road again. I have until Monday night to get to Lake Tahoe to meet up with King to do some climbing at Lover’s Leap. I did take a look at the map and was amazed...


I had planned a pretty straight shot through Salt Lake City. But, as I hit Utah, I couldn’t resist taking a small short-cut over to Arches National Park. The last time I was there, it was 6 years ago and I was in a rush. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry again.


I drove up to the Delicate Arch trailhead. Though the sun was setting, the temptation was too great. It was a 3 mile round-trip…not too bad. I managed to get to this unique locale before the sun set and enjoyed the warm light falling onto the formation.

Too bad the moment was tainted by a few individuals. There were several people who had gathered to enjoy the sunset up by Delicate Arch. Many individuals wandered towards the arch to snap some photos while others were satisfied with sitting along the lip of the bowl. Unfortunately, 2 “unique” people decided to take it upon themselves to ruin the peacefulness of the moment by shouting obnoxious comments at each person who walked out to the arch. It was as if these 2 people felt personally violated…as if the people who wanted to get closer to the arch for a quick photo were standing between these 2 rude individuals’ personal television set. I sat and watched as these 2 people’s aggressiveness kept a European family from taking a family picture by the arch. Anyway, the scene was too beautiful to be ruined by the efforts of such classlessness.