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EarthcacheDelicate Arch

A cache by Lord Mot, Baby Girl and Littlefoot     Hidden: 11/1/2007

Size: Size: Not chosen (Not chosen)     Difficulty: 1 out of 5     Terrain: 3.5 out of 5 (1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)


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N/S ? ??.??? W/E ??? ??.??? 
In Utah, United States

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Delicate Arch is located in Arches National Park near the town of Moab in Southeastern Utah. It is an amazing natural formation and is proudly displayed on most Utah License Plates and on the signs you may see when entering the State.

One of our State's Crown Jewels
Delicate Arch



National Park Service Photo


Delicate Arch is located in Arches National Park near the town of Moab in Southeastern Utah. It is an amazing natural formation and is proudly displayed on most Utah License Plates and on the signs you may see when entering the State.

Delicate Arch stands alone at almost 5000 feet above sea-level. It is estimated that it took about 70,000 years for it to be created by frost, water and wind. Because of the narrow segment on the Arch’s one side, it has the potential to collapse in the geologic future. Delicate Arch is about 65 feet wide and about 85 feet high. It is formed from the Slickrock and Moab Tongue layers of the Entrada Sandstone. This arch also has no supporting fins that are visible on most other arches and there is no sign of debris that had fallen or been removed during it creation.

There are many ways to enjoy Delicate Arch and it is highly recommended and rewarding to hike to it from the Wolfe Ranch parking area. The hike will take you 2 to 3 hours and is about a 3 mile round trip with a 480 feet elevation gain. There is also two additional view points further down the road. The Upper View point is about a 20 minute hike of about ½ mile and the Lower View point is 100 yards on flat terrain.



National Park Service Photo


Parking for the hike to Delicate Arch:
N38 44.150 W109 31.245
Parking for Upper and Lower View Point:
N38 44.055 W109 30.130
Upper View Point:
N38 44.268 W109 30.055
Lower View Point:
N38 44.068 W109 30.015

To get credit and claim a “Find” for this EarthCache you must complete any task from the list below and let us know how many people were in your party.
Please do not include your answers on the Cache page.
Failure to complete a requirement from the list will result in your log being deleted.

#1: Hike to Delicate Arch and post a picture of yourself/s with your GPS at or under Delicate Arch (not from across the canyon) on the cache page and tell us via email something about Delicate Arch that you learned from visiting the Arch.

or

#2: Post a picture of yourself/s with your GPS on the Cache page with Delicate Arch in the background from the Upper View Point and tell us via email how many Fence Posts you passed on your left getting up to the view point.
or

#3: Post a picture of yourself/s with your GPS on the Cache page with Delicate Arch in the background from the Lower View Point and tell us via email which object to the right of the Arch looks most like a Spinx.
or

#4: Post a picture of yourself/s on the Cache page with Delicate Arch in the background from any of the coordinates listed above and tell us via emal how Arches are formed.







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V:\Documents and Settings\ajones\My Documents\Eart

V:\Documents and Settings\ajones\My Documents\Eart

Logged Visits (230 total. Visit the Gallery (281 images))

Found it226     Didn't find it1     Write note2     Publish Listing1     

Warning. Spoilers may be included in the descriptions or links.
Cache find counts are based on the last time the page generated.

 January 30 by deercreekth (412 found)
I really thought I was going to have to log a DNF for this, because I literally could not find Delicate Arch. We got out at the Lower Viewpoint, it was too foggy to see it. We took a hike up to the Upper Viewpoint(which the recent snowfall made more difficult). We still couldn't see Delicate Arch. So here I am, after having flown from Indiana to Arizona and on the fourth day of my road trip back to Indiana facing 16 hours of driving that would have to be done over the next two days, and I didn't get to see Delicate Arch? Wait, there's a 3 mile round trip hike to it. Surely we'll be able to see it after that. So we went for it. I considered putting on my high ankle support hiking boots, but they aren't that comfortable and my low cut Keens had been serving me well for the whole trip. We started the hike, and ran into a guy from France we had run into earlier. He was on his way back from Delicate Arch and said we would definitely be able to see it. So we pressed on. What an awesome hike! We ran into a few people on the way up. One woman was even running back down the trail in the snow and ice. Wow! I'm hiking along and suddenly I slip on some ice and my feet fly out from under me. I brace my camera, and wait for the soft landing on my butt. Then I realize that my right foot is somehow still on the ground and... I hear a pop as my ankle twists as the rest of me falls on it. My brother-in-law came back to me and said, "just lay there, don't take your shoe off." I had twisted my left ankle pretty bad a few years back, and this didn't seem to feel as bad in comparison. I got up and decided that it was going to be uncomfortable, but not that bad. My brother-in-law offered to take my camera and go take pictures while I slowly hike back down. I checked the GPSr. We were .2 miles from Delicate Arch, and about 1.3 miles from the car. Really, what's the extra .2 miles gonna hurt. I made it this far, I'm going to see Delicate Arch. So I pressed on and we made it! Even in the fog, Delicate Arch was a beautiful sight. We stayed there long enough that my ankle started to stiffen up, which made the 1.5 mile hike back down fun. There was one place where I had to sit down and slide down to keep from falling. Some of the ice and snow had started melting, so there was an area that was frozen on the way up that was muddy and slippery on the way back down. But I made it back down. And even with the bum ankle(x-rays confirmed that nothing is broken) this was one of my all time favorite hikes and one of the best things I did on this trip of a lifetime. I hope to make it back to Moab in warm weather someday, and definitely plan to make this hike again. Thanks for a wonderful Earthcache.

View This Log
Photo From the Upper Viewpoint. Too foggy to find it.
Photo Found it! Me with the Delicate Arch.

 January 17 by cllecr (1095 found)
A nice excuse to check out the higher viewpoint, although we were tempted to walk up to the arch. Lots of people around to provide scale... beautiful view across the snowy landscape!

View This Log
Photo upper viewpoint

 November 27, 2009 by Agent T (59 found)
answer sent by cmccage

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 November 27, 2009 by wei-ming (96 found)
answer sent by cmccage

View This Log
 November 27, 2009 by cmccage (104 found)
Nice hike for thanksgiving week-end.

View This Log
Photo DSC_0752

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Current Time: 2/9/2010 9:11:46 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (5:11 AM GMT)
Last Updated: 2/9/2010 12:35:52 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) (8:35 AM GMT)
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum


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