It was 7:16 AM when we walked up to the visitors center in Arches National Park. It was official, we were national park doorbusters. The visitors center opened at 7:30, and as the time neared people started gathering near the door. Now I’m a pretty peaceful person in general, but my elbows were out just in case anyone tried to get in front of me. One hand was even on my huge Hydroflask, which I’ve often imagined would be a decent weapon if push comes to shove. Of course, push didn’t come to shove, because this was a national park not Nike on black Friday, but I was getting a permit for the Fiery Furnace, and nobody was going to stand in my way. The Fiery Furnace is Arches National Park’s signature slot canyons, which I hadn’t even planned on visiting before the night before.
All the website I looked at prior to visiting said that it was very hard to get a permit to visit the Fiery Furnace, so for some reason, I shied away, before realizing that it would probably be worth getting up at the crack of dawn and joining the morning rush to the visitors center. The other option for visiting: A ranger-guided tour. No thanks. I’ve been told not to climb on things I should be able to climb on by tour guides far too many times and listening to someone drone on about erosion, while maybe interesting, was not in the cards for me on that balmy day. It ended up being pretty easy to get a permit. Being the first people there helped, and after signing away some liability stuff, we watched a short video that told us the basics: don’t be a mean earth hater and litter, don’t step on the multi-million-year-old biological soil crust, and don’t walk across the top of any arches.
Armed with the newfound knowledge about soil crust formation and a fierce commitment to not destroying it, we headed towards the Fiery Furnace Trailhead. Like I said, I hadn’t planned to visit the slot canyons, so I had no idea what was inside. Like countless others, this experience proved that having zero expectations leads to getting your minds blown because let me tell you, the Fiery Furnace is one of the most incredible places on earth. While loading up plenty of food and water into our packs in the parking lot, we asked a man coming out for any pro tips. He looked dumbfounded, and we would soon find out why. His advice: find a dead end sign and start climbing. The dead-end signs in the Furnace indicated that those offshoots were not part of the two-mile loop that people usually opted to follow. The ranger who gave us our permit encouraged us to follow whatever path took our fancy, and maybe find something few others have found. We followed both pieces of advice and took off past a dead end sign, stepping off the glowing orange sand and into the first ledge of rust-colored rocks we could find a foothold on. We went up and up, scrambling, edging along and crawling through crevices, feeling every bit of cool as Indiana Jones. Time seems to stand still in the furnace, and running into people is rare, so it was like we were on a whole other planet. The Fiery Furnace is home to some of the most amazing rock formations, arches, and caves that I’ve ever seen. I took so many pictures that don’t come close to doing any justice, but I wanted to remember the sights and at least try to remember the feeling.
Before we knew it, it was five o’clock, my whole body was shaking from climbing, we sat on a ledge for a snack and rest. If it weren’t for the fact that my body was significantly slowing down, and we were over halfway out of water with the whole return trip to go, I would have kept climbing. Here are some pictures, but I urge you to go and see for yourself. Seriously. Get out your bucket list right now and add “The Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park” in BIG BOLD LETTERS.
Happy Trails!