Fiery Furnace

Don't worry, I'm still here to talk about it, so I did not get completely incinerated in the fiery furnace! :)

Months ago, when I was researching for this trip, I came across a ranger-led hike through a specific part of the park.  Thinking at that time that I would be on my own, I decided to reserve a ticket, only to realize that tickets, even at that time were hard to come by.  So I adjusted my timing just a bit to be here when there was an available ticket, and even then, there was just one ticket.  Then, thankfully, Jessica decided to join me.  We had discussed this along the way and decided we would just sort of play it by ear.  Tickets were free, but as the size of the group was very limited, only a certain amount could be reserved.

We decided to leave it up to fate.  So, as we left the park yesterday, scorched and sore, I stopped in to the ranger's office to ask if there were any extra tickets and if there were not, I would turn mine in.  No harm done as the reason I had wanted to do this hike was so I could do a hike through Arches, but well, we were still recovering from one.  I approached the desk and asked if anyone had canceled.  The ranger said, "How many do you need?"  I explained my situation and how there were two of us, but only one ticket needed.  He said, "You're in luck, I had one person cancel earlier today."  The fates had spoken; we, once again, the day after our painful journey through the desert, would be hiking through the Fiery Furnace.

When we arrived at our designated meeting spot, I was quickly reassured that we would be able to keep up on this hike when I saw that our ranger guide was very... mature.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  The spritely old man challenged even some of the most in shape hikers as he scurried between crevices, climbed over rocks and marched through sand.  As in Glacier National Park, though, I was very glad to be on a ranger-led hike partly so that the horrifying feeling of being lost, so fresh in my mind, was not a fear, and for the valuable information that he taught us along the way.

You are not allowed to hike through the Fiery Furnace unless you are with a ranger or you have a special permit due to the possibility of getting lost.  We quickly figured out why.  The Fiery Furnace was like a maze of narrow canyons, that to the untrained eye, all looked eerily similar.  This hike was infinitely more pleasant than our hike yesterday (although probably won't be as much fun to retell in the future), not only because we felt safe in the care of a ranger, but because being in the narrow canyons provided a plethora of shade.

There were challenging places where we had to scoot on our rears, with our feet flat on a rock well while our legs were over a crevice; places that required careful attention as we leapt across rocks high above the ground; and places where we walked through thick.  There were places the ranger said we could challenge ourselves, like crawling through one of the smallest of the over 2,000 arches in the park, and of course, even on fear of getting stuck, we took on the challenge.

Like naming clouds and naming rocks, naming arches is a fun pastime.  Many of the thousands of arches in the park are named, but even if they have official names, who can be expected to remember them all?  So, the ranger allowed us to use our creativity and name a few on our own.

The official name of this is Twin Arch, but I preferred Glasses Arch

I believe the most common name for this one is Heart Arch, but my favorite was Kissing Turtle Arch.

In the middle of the Fiery Furnace, we also came across something I had not at all expected: water.  In one large rock we came upon there was a huge hole in it, appearing almost like a well.  Since these "potholes" are in rock, the water can last a long time which has provided a home for some incredibly hardy species.  In these potholes you can often find shrimp.  Yes, shrimp.  A specific type of shrimp that is able to survive, in specific stages of its lifecycle in extreme droughts.  I never expected to hike in the desert and find shrimp!

Our last stop on the hike was to Surprise Arch, so named because it is a true surprise, a treasure to come across as it is well hidden amongst the narrow canyons.

Surprise Arch

We survived another hike in the desert, one that seemed infinitely easier than our adventure yesterday.  We went into Moab to have a meal before setting off to our next destination and ran into a movie star:

Mater, from the Disney Cars movies apparently lives here in Moab!

Our next destination was Monument Valley, a place I believe you will all recognize even if you've never heard about it.  It was here that a very well known, fellow-Alabamian ended a really long cross-country run: 

Driving down the highway, I could tell we were getting close to this scene, really the main reason I knew about the area, but for some reason, this was the time I decided not to pull off a take a photo like I had done SO many times before.  It was only when we got to Monument Valley that I realized I had already driven through the famous scene and as daylight was escaping us, I chose not to turn around, but I can still say I drove down the road that Forrest ran down, even if I don't have the photo to prove it.

Right on the border of Utah and Arizona (in fact, we drove out of Utah into Arizona and then back into Utah on the two mile road) lies Monument Valley.  This park is run by the Navajo Nation, and I must say it is very different than visiting a national or state park.  Due to poor planning on my part, Jessica and I were in separate cars and each had to pay $20 to enter even though the park would not be open for much longer that day.  The park is basically just a road that runs through the monuments, a road not made for the shy of heart nor the low-to-the-ground cars.  Thankfully, Jessica had a jeep that was able to withstand the potholes and seeming deep ravines along the dusty road which allowed us to see some of the monuments and try to picture them as their names suggested.  Some of which, like the Mittens below were quite easy, while the Elephant and the Three Sisters took a bit more of a keen, or perhaps creative, eye.

Mittens

We drove a little further to the booming metropolis of Kayenta, the one red-light town, where we are currently staying for the night.  The hotel is actually quite large, no doubt one of only a very few places to stay which is in 100 miles of both Monument Valley and Four Corners, which we will visit tomorrow.

Miles traveled: 191

Hours in the car: 5

Gallons of gas purchased: 6

States: Utah and Arizona