Wednesday 9/1
Fiery Furnace!
Arches NP, Moab, UT.
We had help from Mother Nature today to tame the Fiery Furnace, in the form of glorious monsoonal rains. Not before the ranger sat us down in the auditorium and tried to scare us with stories of rescues from water trolls and slippery giants. Our greatest challenge was finding the darn trail…
Permit dangling from pack, and a chat with muddy hikers coming out, we checked every squeezable canyon for a path through. Even the trail signs didn’t help at first!? Then we figured out the trick: tiny arrows hidden upon the wet rocks leading the way.
With only 50 permits given each day, and the forecast wet, we spent a glorious 5 hours route-finding among the towering cliffs and chimneys, with never another sole in sight.
Triumphant, elated, and sore from: climbing, scrambling, sliding, and searching; we emerge extra muddy from the maze. The Fiery Furnace will forever be one of the greatest adventures we could find in Arches... until the next day!
PS: Water Troll & Slippery Giants are not condemned by the park service, nor are they hunted since they are protected in the park… I will say they do resemble deep muddy water puddles under overhangs, and large boulders that move under your feet when wet...
