Hiking on the job

Today I went on an unexpected excursion! I arrived at the Visitor Center and found out that Ben and Natasha (the two other new seasonal interpreters) and I were to take a park vehicle and drive out and hike some of the trails that we’re going to be telling people about, so we know what we’re talking about! We went back to the dorm first, because I was wearing my uniform and shoes not suited for hiking. I changed, and then we headed out.

Our first stop was the Twin Arches trailhead, on the western side of the park. (There are a lot of natural stone arches in this area – the rock of the plateau just happens to weather away in that manner.) This took a while to get to, especially because we very carefully drove past the rode we needed to turn down… I started to wonder when we reached the state line, and then Ben, who had the map, realized what we had done. Once we turned around it was easy to spot – it still took a while, because it is a long and winding gravel road.

There are several options for hiking at Twin Arches. We opted to take the shorter loop, since we were supposed to check out several other spots, and it was already 11:00!

It was really amazing – the trail goes across the top of one of the two arches, and then we went a bit further and climbed up to a high point that gave a spectacular view of the wooded hills all around. It did get pretty hot, out on that sandstone under the sun… it’s been unseasonably hot these last few days.

This is where we had to climb back down from that open spot. Going up wasn't too bad, but I adopted the old sit-and-slide method to get back down. So did the other two!

There were some stairs down, and then we were under the first arch, and walked around to the second one. There was a great crevice that we were able to walk through – wide at the entrance, it narrowed quite a lot, but let us out on the other side; then we walked back around and retraced our steps to the trail.

Looking straight up from underneath.

The last part of the hike was a little rough for me – climbing quite a few stairs, and then a steady gradual climb back to the car. I was a little overheated by the time I got back, but had lots of water waiting for me – plenty to spare a bit splashing my face with!

The plan had been to drive back up the road to another side road, park at the Charit Creek trailhead and hike down to the Charit Creek Lodge, and have lunch there. It was getting a bit late, so I had a snack – part of the lunch I had originally packed.

This was a long, gradual downhill slope with switchbacks. Another route would have taken us to the lodge from Twin Arches, but would have been a lot rougher – a whole series of stairs. As it was it wasn’t too bad of a descent – just had to watch out for rocks and roots on the trail. I kept trying to pick up my pace a bit, but every time I did I found myself tripping! I’ll take a little more time and avoid the sprained ankle, thank you very much.

The sign at the trailhead had said we would have to ford the creek, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with that – take off my socks and shoes and throw them across, then at least they’d be dry if I slipped and fell while crossing? But it turned out the sign needs to be updated – there was a bridge! Obviously still new, a swinging bridge high above the creek, which apparently gets pretty high during floods. Then we were at the lodge.

Charit Creek Lodge is a concession run in the middle of the park, accessible by hiking, bicycle, and horseback. There are cabins, a restroom, a lodge, access to a kitchen, and food can be purchased as well. We bought sandwich wraps – I bought a cold soda as well. I had water, but sometimes you just need a soda! We rested a while, talking with the owner and the other hikers that had stopped there. Two of them recognized me from the visitor center – because I had recommended a bike ride and hike combination, and they had had a great time doing it! (The one route I actually knew about, because I had been trying to find out about where I might ride my own bike sometime…) It’s always fun to find out that the advice you gave went well!

There were also two dogs there, roaming hopefully among all the people who were eating lunch on the porch! They were not being a nuisance, but they were very optimistic – maybe this time they’ll give me something! There were several people working on putting in plants for a vegetable garden, growing food to use in the kitchen there.

I walked around the grounds a bit, taking a look at the cabin, and went to the restroom – I was very happy to find there was plumbing! The water was nice and cold, too.

This is the back of the lodge - somehow I forgot to get a picture of the part where we'd all been sitting!

Now came the part I’d been dreading – the climb back up. That long gradual slope was now going the other direction. I tried to keep going without stopping too much, but climbing steadily like that can really take it out of you if you’re not used to it – and I’m not in as good shape as I’d like to be! I managed to just stop for a few breaths here and there, at the end of each switchback. The very last part of the hike was flat, and I had enough water left to start cooling off a little as I walked to the car. I kept having to splash handfuls of water in my face every few minutes – once I get hot it’s really hard for me to cool down.

It was late enough that we didn’t have time to hike the Slave Falls trail, although we noted where the trailhead was. And there was no question of driving to Yahoo Falls, which is way up on the other side of the park from where we were! So we headed back to Bandy Creek, where I was able to cool off some more. I did end up helping at the desk for the last few minutes of the day, even though I wasn’t in uniform, and I helped to close. I’m getting the hang of this cash register!

I’m pretty wiped out, but I’m glad I got to see both those places. I may go back – just not all in one day!