Fiery Furnace - Arches NP

This forum is used to share your experiences out on the trails.
Post Reply
User avatar
romann
Posts: 2417
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Fiery Furnace - Arches NP

Post by romann » May 25th, 2011, 10:23 pm

Joined my parents in our "traditional" week-long trip to Utah. So far it's been good, mostly blue skies, only 2 rainy days (the rains are quite strong but never last for more than an hour), the temps are somewhat unstable - one day it can be in the lower 80's, another day in the mid-60's.

Among the other hikes, Fiery Furnace was the most interesting hike so far, so I wanted to share.

Even though Fiery Furnace trip is only 2 easy miles, it is more a "beginning canyoneering" than a usual hike and that makes it so exciting. Park rangers advise to do it for the first time in a ranger-led tour, and now it makes sense. First-time hiker doing it alone would wander aimlessly in this natural labyrinth and miss most of the interesting features.

We went through narrow slot canyons, crawled under/through small arches and over cracks you wouldn't guess it's even doable by a human being, jumped over deep slots, went over ledges - it was fun from the beginning to the end. The rumblings of thunder (the trip was almost canceled because of T-storms but we only got rained upon in the last 5 minutes on the hike) echoed off the walls from time to time, adding to the feeling of being at Fiery Furnace. We spent there about 3 hours and it didn't feel slow - you're either try to go/crawl/jump over an obstacle, or watch the others doing it. It's certainly the trip to take if you want to get excited about the canyoneering...

Last time we missed this trip because the spots in ranger-led groups fill out months before the hike; glad we didn't miss it this year.

Entering the maze of Fiery Furnace
Image

Image

Image

We hiked through this natural bridge
Image

Our group members having fun
Image

You may see where we crawled through another "arch" (it's optional), where a person on the left is going in this picture
Image

One of the wider canyons
Image

The "garden" where our ranger explained all about the common desert plants
Image

We sometimes went like this...
Image

...or like this
Image

"Trail junction". There is no trail per se, and often the most obvious option is a wrong one
Image

Another canyon (will I be able to repeat this trip without a guide?)
Image

This was my favorite stretch
Image

Image

Image

The last - and most beautiful - arch we visited on this hike
Image

Storm clouds above Arches (taken from a car on the way back)
Image

cfm
Posts: 1097
Joined: June 18th, 2008, 6:49 am

Re: Fiery Furnace - Arches NP

Post by cfm » May 26th, 2011, 5:49 am

So cool Romann! So fun! You really captured the variety of features in that area.

This trip report brings back fond memories, I came here on a trip with my boyfriend in1995, he is now my husband. One of the first tests of our relationship-I went down a canyon he didnt want to go down, and I got stuck with a tricky problem, and it took me an hour to find my way out of there, and we were only about 1/4 mile from the car.

That last picture is amazing, the clouds look like pillow basalts!

User avatar
arundodonax
Posts: 1043
Joined: August 12th, 2010, 8:02 pm

Re: Fiery Furnace - Arches NP

Post by arundodonax » May 26th, 2011, 7:43 am

romann wrote:We sometimes went like this...
Image
Very cool! Just don't do that alone, without bringing a PLB and a knife. :D

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/127_Hours)

User avatar
mayhem
Posts: 3579
Joined: December 22nd, 2009, 7:46 pm
Contact:

Re: Fiery Furnace - Arches NP

Post by mayhem » May 26th, 2011, 11:20 am

Wow! Enough said...Ok, Wow!, one more time. Thanks for sharing.
Shoe Shine Boy Has Left The Building!

User avatar
awildman
Posts: 918
Joined: June 6th, 2009, 5:20 pm
Location: Portland

Re: Fiery Furnace - Arches NP

Post by awildman » May 26th, 2011, 8:32 pm

Great cloud shot! Looks like a super fun trail.
Rambling on at Allison Outside

Post Reply