This is a fun adventure, and it's legal, for it's not "a named arch in Arches National Park." Even though it's 5.3 , we chose to rope up, and we wanted/needed a rope for the simul-rappel one climber off each side at once. It's a very exciting thing to do, and you it gets your heart beating and blood flowing. Climb the spine of the arch fromt he right side, up cracks and grooves.
Location
Between mile marker 102 and 103. Park just at the arch in the pull-out.
Protection
Take a few cams, and your rope. Simul-rap off the top, one climber on either end of the rope; and the rope pulls right over the top through the rock and dirt. Just don't unclip until our partner is down.
By toddgordon From: Joshua Tree, California May 27, 2007
We climbed this arch in April of 1993. I simul-rapped off he top of the arch with John Barbie as my conter-weight, and then we held one end of the rope as Cyndie Bransford rapped off the other end. It was a thrilling experience to rappel through space down the eye of the big arch. This is a really fun and exciting thing to do, and it's actual 5th class climbing to get to the summit, so it's not a place where you will see tourists with their lap dogs and lawn chairs. The rappels off the arch are a real show-stopper for the cars driving by. If you have a couple hours to burn, I suggest go do Wilson Arch; it's good bang for your buck.
Do it for the simul-rap, not the climb. It is a fun little side trip, as Todd says, if you have a couple of hours to burn. There is also a decent anchor w/ slings if you are doing it solo.
Wilson Arch
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