Jack and I decided that instead of rising very early, and going into the park to do some “light painting,” that we would just head out at about 9 PM. The park is open 24 hours a day, so we were thrilled to see some, but not very many people in the park. We were going to go to one of the most accessible arches, but we missed our turnoff in the dark so we instead went to Tapesty Arch. After a short hike with all of our gear and lights, we had the place to ourselves.

Light painting on Tapestry Arch

We were just not happy with the results, but we were pleasantly surprised to see the moon rising up over the mountains just to our right.

Moonrise at 11 pm in Arches National Park

Happy with these, we then move on back to our original location, the North Window Arch. There we met a couple from Peru who wanted to climb up Delicate Arch, a very difficult and long climb even in the day, with only a dying battery on their cell phone to light their way. They wanted to know if we thought they could make it. I gave them one of my star flashlights and hoped that they would make a baby under the arch by full moon and, who knows, maybe call him Pedro?

Full moon, with a little light painting at North Window Arch

And for our last stop we picked Balanced Rock. No hike involved, but it is a spot that is always way too full to stop at during the day. No problem with parking tonight!

Balanced Rock, or final stop.

We made it back to our campsite by 2 am, happy with another great adventure. Of course I did sleep to 8:30 AM the next morning. It's now 1 pm, and we still haven't gone anywhere!