Capitol Reef National Park, July 2018: Cassidy Arch Trail

I didn't plan on doing many long hikes on my whirlwind NPS road trip. The heat made the idea unappealing. And being alone made it risky. My first evening at Capitol Reef the temperatures weren't too high, though -- especially with the overcast conditions. And there were a couple of hikes that led to some interesting destinations, including the Cassidy Arch Trail. So with what seemed like ample time before sunset, I decided to give that one a shot.

I had a hiking guide from the visitor center that clearly said the Cassidy Arch Trail was 1.7 miles one way and rated strenuous.  And this sign in the parking area specifies that it's a quarter of a mile walk just to get to the trailhead.  But for some reason I thought I'd be out and back in about an hour.  Lapses in judgment like this are why I didn't plan a lot of hikes.

I hoped to be at Sunset Point for, you know, sunset.  But the clouds to the west made the prospect of breathtaking sunset photo opportunities seem slim.

The portion of the Grand Wash Trail which leads to the Cassidy Arch Trail has some solid scenery itself.  And it's nice and flat and smooth.

Seeing this sign made me finally realize I was in for more of a trek than I'd expected.  Nearly a thousand feet of elevation gain was not what I'd had in mind.  But in for a penny, in for a pound.  I picked up my pace, though.

The arch comes into view with about half a mile to go, then disappears again as you get closer.  The cairns also get a bit inconsistent, so I found myself wandering around a fair amount trying to find the arch.  I doubled back a couple of times as the sun kept descending.

Then all of a sudden, the arch just appears.  I actually howled in triumph when I found it and set up to take some shots.

The lighting turned out to be fairly decent, and the clouds to the east had enough holes in them to allow the blue sky to peek through to also be interesting.

I had similar difficulties staying with the trail on my return, having to retrace my steps more than once.  So I probably ended up covering nearly four miles, which took me closer to two hours than one.  But that was fine -- you can see a sunset every day, but not a cool feature like Cassidy Arch.