This has been on my list for a while. It is a long one and this was the perfect day for it. I started at the Pollock Bench trailhead at 6am. It was before sunrise but there was a full moon so no lights needed! The moon was great although you can't tell that from the pictures. You start on the Pollock 1 trail and then head West on the Rattlesnake Arches trail. In the 2-4 mile range you go up and down numerous canyons. There are steep sections here and the trail isn't clear in places. I went off the trail a few times in this area. From 4-5 miles the trail goes up steeply. After that the trail is easy to follow and doesn't have a lot of elevation change. The trail is interesting the whole way, looking at multiple canyons, but at 6 miles you start to see the arches. I went by four large ones and there were a few smaller ones. This whole area from 6-7.5 miles is interesting with lots of formations. This is a hard hike due to its distance, 15 miles, and the rough terrain and lots of ups and downs. The total elevation gain was 2750 feet. Since you are going up and down canyons you have climbing going out and returning. They say this area contains the second largest concentration of arches in the world. Arches NP is number 1. Of course I saw only 3 other people today which is different than Arches! I would plan on 8 hours for this hike. Today was 7 hours but I had cool temps in the morning which allowed for a faster pace in the morning. It was 31 degrees at the start and probably 65 at the end. Sunny... of course. A great one but a long one!
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