| Arches NP on a Bum Knee Trip Report |
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| Arches NP on a Bum Knee   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: Utah, United States, North America Date Climbed/Hiked: Mar 22, 2008 Activities: Hiking Season: Spring | Page By: miketx123 Created/Edited: Mar 25, 2008 / Mar 26, 2008 Object ID: 391116 Hits: 288 Loading... Page Score: 88.64% - 11 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
PrologueSkiing is one of my favorite things to do. I'm not a great skier (maybe not even a good skier), but I really like going. Being from Texas, I don't get to go very often, so I was very excited about getting to take my family skiing at Park City, Utah for Spring Break. We arrived along with at least a 1,000 other Texans the week of March 17. The plan was to ski for just a couple of days and then head south to Arches National Park to do some hiking.
My family ended up really enjoying the tubing at Gorgoza and so I skied alone all day Wednesday, including a workshop to help me improve my turns. I was beat by the end of the day and wasn't sure if I would have the energy to ski on Thursday. But Park City awoke to at least 6 inches or so of fresh snow on Thursday and there was no way I was going to miss out on that.
I'd never skied in that much powder before and I quickly became aware that it took a little more finesse and effort to do good turns. Unfortunately, I botched one of my turns on aptly named "Widowmaker" and bit the dust. As a fell, I felt and heard a "pop" in my left knee. Needless to say, I ended up riding the ski patrol toboggan down to the medical clinic. I got my diagnosis from ski clinic doctor in less than an hour -- torn MCL and ACL. I was pretty bummed out, since I was supposed to hike in Arches the next couple of days.
I know some of you local Utahans are sitting there thinking, “Stupid Texan!" What can I say?
Arches National ParkAnyway, we left Park City the next morning and drove for about 3 1/2 hours to Green River, Utah where we stayed in a hotel. The Best Western there is probably one of the nicest discount hotels I've ever stayed at. After some food and some rest, we headed for Arches in late afternoon. The drive out to Arches reminded me a lot of west Texas, save for the snowy La Sals in the background. Then, just before arriving at the park, the scenery changed dramatically as sand and tumbleweeds gave way to red rocks and green trees.
We drove along the park road and snapped a bunch of pictures, taking advantage of the late afternoon sunlight. We also made a few stops and I took advantage of some of the parks, short and well-graded trails that allowed me to take in some of the park's features up close. These included Balanced Rock and Double Arch.
We eventually made our way to Delicate Arch overlook. I felt a pang of disappointment, knowing that had I not injured my knee, I would be headed for the 3 mile round trip hike to see the world's most famous natural arch up close. Unfortunately, I had to settle for seeing it from the lower viewpoint -- not very exciting.
The next day, we ate breakfast and headed back to explore the park in the morning. The morning sunlight allowed us to snap pictures of the Three Gossips, as well as some of the other interesting rock formations. I had made the decision the previous day that I would attempt to hobble out to Landscape Arch. The ski doctor had given me a knee brace and I was getting around pretty well with it. Also, the trail to Landscape arch was only 1 1/2 miles round trip, with very little change in elevation on a well-graded trail (something I was learning to appreciate)
So, we set out on the trail; me taking it very slow with my knee brace. I got a lot of odd looks and comments. You may be thinking I'm not so bright for doing this, but the thought of being in Arches National Park and being confined to the car was more painful than my knee injury was.
We arrived at Landscape Arch in about an hour and snapped a bunch of photos. After resting and drinking some water we headed back. On the way, we took a couple of side trips to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. I had to climb some stairs for this and I was pretty worn out by the time we got back to the car. It's strange how easily you get tired if you have only 50 percent use of one of your legs.
After our "hike" we drove to Moab for lunch. We were surprised by the very large crowds of people in 4-wheel drives, until we noticed some signs saying "Welcome to Jeep Safari 2008". It was a bad time to visit Moab, unless you were a 4-wheel drive enthusiast. Lunch was okay though.
EpilogueWe arrived back in Houston on Easter Sunday. The next day at work came with the expected comments and jeers about my injured knee. Luckily, I got in to see an orthopedic doctor that afternoon. He told me that I should have knee surgery if I wanted to continue to enjoy my current level of activity. I figured that was coming, so I wasn't surprised.
I'm pretty bummed out that my summer will be spent recovering from knee surgery, instead of hiking or climbing. Well, I've been wanting to practice my guitar anyway. I'm not a great skier and I'm even a worse guitar player.
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