Fiery Furnace May 4, 2011 Arches National Park

This wonderfully wild nine day adventure began in one of the wildest places in the area!  I signed up for a guided trip through the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park in Utah, a place that has no map, no directions listed anywhere, no human nor animal tracks to follow and no one has ever been able to record a GPS track.  I tried to record one but failed miserably.  Those in the know warn not to venture here alone but if you choose to chance it, you have to purchase a permit and report back to the visitor center by 8:00pm!  

The Ranger led us off towards this area!  Only one opening is the true entrance!  Good Luck!

We entered into this maze between a narrow opening and zig-zagged in deeper and deeper. 

We were surrounded by tall sandstone formations with openings between each but only one opening was the trail.  I wasn't able to pick it out!

We maneuvered through windows where the light shone through!

We worked our way around boulders and on top of them too!

Ranger Kate passionately explained the lay of the land!

We walked along ledges and even wiggled through tunnels.

Kate knows the way that gives us bang for our buck.  The Fiery Furnace even contains its own arch!  Surprise Arch!  And it was a surprise to see! We took an extended break here.  We laid under the Arch and had a moment of silence and the only sense that was stimulated was feeling.  The feel of a light breeze that blew across our bodies.  The sensation made the hair on my arms stand up!  

Three hours later, after covering roughly three kilometers, we reached an opening with views to the snow covered La Sal Mountains.  

What a great way to kick off a vacation!

This was just a taste and boy was I hungry!