Block 1: Week 3 + Arches National Park

We started off week 3 on Tuesday as we had Monday off for the holiday. We went to the Riverton location to work with Katherine's husband, Gray, this week to see the differences in their pharmacy. We spent most of Tuesday-Thursday working on chart reviews for our upcoming in-service presentation. We were able to vaccinate one patient during our time there, but at this point the rate of COVID vaccinations has slowed down tremendously. 

On Wednesday, we were looking for a place to walk outside between when we left the clinic and when trivia started at Bar 10 (7pm) since we did not want to drive back to the house in between. Gray recommended we park at 307 Bar and Grill located in the Riverton Country Club and walk around this neighborhood area. This walk was really nice, and they have a walking trail right outside of the neighborhood you could walk down although I am not entirely sure where it goes. 

We met Katherine and Gray at Bar 10 for trivia that afternoon and had a blast! They were extremely helpful in most of the questions that Savannah and I had no guesses for (honestly Savannah and I only knew a couple answers). During the trivia, we were chosen as one of the funny answers and ended up getting 3 Alabama CDs to which Savannah informed them we were actually from Alabama. We all had a great laugh about that. 

We worked late in the clinic on Thursday in order to have Friday off so we could head out early to Arches National Park. We decided to take the scenic route there (the way that goes through Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area), and while this was beautiful, I would recommend you pack a lunch to eat along the way! There were minimal food options, so we ended up stopping at the Main Street Cafe. We waited for about an hour, and I was served completely raw chicken, so I would not recommend stopping here. 

For our trip to Arches, we decided to stay at the Red Stone Inn in Moab, UT. This was the cheapest option at the time, and honestly I don't think you could go wrong with anywhere in Moab. All of the hotels/motels here had beautiful views and looked well kept. We got to Moab around 3:30pm and decided to spend the afternoon checking out the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park (about 30 minutes from Moab). We had a great time here! There were several short and easy trails with beautiful views. We asked one of the workers in the Visitor Center what they recommended, and they pointed us towards Mesa Arch and the Grand View Point Overlook. We also ended up walking the White Rim Overlook trail since it was near Grand View Point, and we would recommend all of these! They were very easy hikes and definitely worth it. That night we ate at Fiesta Mexicana. All of the meals were around $20, but it was very good food.

The next morning, we woke up and grabbed a bite to eat at Bonjour Bakery & Cafe. The food here was amazing!!! And they had several different options for coffee. After fueling up, we headed to hike Grandstaff Trail. This was a beautiful hike through a canyon with amazing views. There's a nice place to rest at the end of the trail before heading back, and I think this would make a great place for a lunch picnic. There are several slick surfaces throughout this trail as it runs alongside a creek, so I would recommend considering this when deciding what shoes to wear. I had originally planned on wearing my tennis shoes for the day, but they had absolutely no tread remaining on them, so I quickly slipped into the creek and ended up having to change into my hiking boots for Arches (which was honestly a blessing). Savannah did make it the whole day with her tennis shoes though, so it is definitely possible!

Grandstaff Trail is not in Arches, so I would recommend looking on AllTrails to find it if you are interested. We decided to do this in the morning because we did not choose a timed pass to get into the park until 12-1pm as our TN roommates were planning on meeting us around lunch to go into the park together. They headed to Salt Lake City Friday and stayed there Friday night, but they wanted to join us for Arches Saturday and stay together Saturday night. Once our roommates made it to Moab, we quickly changed and loaded the car to head into the park. 

One note about timed passes: these are only required during certain months of the year. While there are dates that they are released for reserving, there is also a certain amount that become available every night at 6pm for the next day. If you plan it right, you could definitely get a pass for the next morning the night before. While the pass has a time you can enter the park, you are really welcome to enter the park any time after that, so I would recommend getting the earliest available time so you can go into the park at any point during the day that you would like. Remember, you still have to pay an entrance fee to the park (which is covered with the America the Beautiful Pass if you decide to buy that). Also, there is only one entrance/exit for the park so be prepared to wait in line for a bit to get in. 

Once we were into Arches, we made our first stop for a short walk around Balanced Rock. Our next stop was to see Double Arch (pictured below), which was a short walk from the parking lot. On the opposite side of the parking lot from Double Arch, you can walk to see the North and South Windows and the Turret Arch. We walked up to North Window Arch, and when we got to this arch I decided to do a little climbing on the other side of the arch to get a view of Turret Arch through the window (picture included below for reference). One of our TN roommates climbed up with me, and it was a fun little excursion! I was super thankful to have my hiking boots on for this - not sure if I could have done it without the added traction. 

After this we made the hike up to Delicate Arch. You have to do this because this is the major tourist area - and it was definitely worth it! The hike is a pretty steady uphill the whole way to the arch, but at least you have the downhill walk back to look forward to. The Delicate Arch was absolutely breathtaking. Although pictures do not do the area justice, I have included the pictures below of us with our roommates and of me under the arch.

After making that hike, we decided against the Devils Garden Trail. However, I will tell you the advice I was given. I hear this trail is fairly long and boring for about half of it, but on one side of the trail there are several arches. While it may be fun to make the entire hike, if you are trying to fit the most into your day you should probably only make the hike on the side that has the arches and turn around before getting even halfway rather than doing the entire loop. 

For dinner we ate at the Moab Brewery. They had several different types of food (you can look up the menu online). While I didn't think it was anything particularly special, the food was good! One place I wished we had gotten to eat at during our trip was the Moab Diner. It was super cute, and after getting back to the clinic and hearing that Matt had eaten there on his recent trip, it made me regret it even more. Apparently the food is delicious!

We left Moab fairly early Sunday morning so we would have time to relax at the house before starting our work at the clinic that following Monday. This time, we decided to take the route that went closer to Salt Lake City. While this route is not as scenic, there is much more civilization. There are outlet shops somewhere along the way if you are interested in stopping for a little shopping. 

Overall, the trip to Arches was worth every second of driving. The hikes were not very difficult, and it was a significant change of scenery compared to what we had been seeing in Wyoming and Montana. If you get the chance to make a quick weekend trip, I would definitely recommend going here. I honestly think you could make all the hikes and see the entire park in one day if you start that morning and spend the entire day there. I would just recommend bringing plenty of water and snacks!! Again, I would recommend hiking boots for the extra grip on the slick surfaces of the rocks, but others were totally fine in their tennis shoes. Expect most of the hikes to be on a combination of smooth, slick rock and sand. 

-Amber Smith