This year, I got a head start on the answer to my perennial springtime question: How am I going to take advantage of the extra day off for Memorial Day weekend? I started considering my options in the midst of ski season.

A flurry of text messages, some hasty internet research, and a shared Google folder later, I’d outlined plan with some girlfriends.

I strongly believe that it’s healthy to play outside with friends other than one’s primary adventure partner—regardless of their gender. There’s something special, though, about hitting the trail as part of a group of women. Spoiler alert: we don’t just talk about ill-fitting gear and the challenges of peeing outside. There are plenty of gross jokes.

Our conversations would definitely pass the Bechdel test.

I don’t need to wax poetic about the joys of ladies’ night(s) out—it’s different for each of us. Plus, sometimes, a picture is worth more than any words I could string together.

Rattlesnake Arches, nestled in the foothills of the high desert just outside tiny Fruita, Colorado, boasts the second-highest concentration of natural arches in the country outside Arches National Park. You can access them via a ten-mile 4WD road and a few miles of easy hiking, or leave a car at Pollock Bench and reach the arches via eight dusty, strenuous miles under your own power. We opted for the latter.