More Than Arches

Lee and I both loved Arches NP.  What an awesome place.  There are others I would rank higher in terms of "must see" parks (Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, Glacier, Yosemite), but  Arches is definitely worth seeing.

We discovered that Arches NP has beautiful arches, but so much more.  There are many interesting rock formations in Arches, and in this case it is easier to show with photographs.  To see most of the formations, visitors drive a 12-mile road and stop at various points along the way.  Twelve miles may not sound like much, but there is so much to see and a few of the sights require hiking.  It took us two days to reach the end of the road.

When we first entered the park, we drove up a hill and around a corner and a grand valley of monumental monoliths opened up before us.

 

It is difficult to get a sense of scale.  The rocks are many, many stories high, like skyscrapers.  The formation to the right in the photo below is known as "Park Avenue".  (Yes, I was really there!)

There are many balancing rocks that seem to defy gravity.  I have no idea what the name of this one is, but I call it "The Egyptian".  Or perhaps "The Alien".

Looking back, as we drove along:

A few miles beyond these stately and monumental rocks was a different formation, rounded and light in color.  These are petrified sand dunes.  The Four Corners area is part of the Colorado Plateau, which although at 5,000 to 7,000 feet today, was once at the bottom of a large inland sea.

 
Continuing on a few miles, we found yet more formations, which included our first arches. 

 

 

 

This formation, known famously as the "Balanced Rock", illustrates that the size of these formations can be deceiving.  The Balanced Rock is almost as high as the Statue of Liberty. 

Here is a short botanical break.  The plant below is the Utah juniper, loaded with berries.  The Utah juniper is especially suited to the harsh environment of the Colorado Plateau.  You can see by the number of berries that it was a good summer for plants and animals alike!

Back to rock formations.

The mountains in the background are the La Sal Mountains, the highest peak (Mount Peale) being at 12,721 feet high.  The peak was named after Albert Peale, grandson of Charles Willson Peale who was the famous Philadelphia painter and naturalist.

 

Do you see what I mean about scale?  Until you are right next to the formation, or arch in this case, you don't realize how huge it really is.

More arches.  One can get carried away with taking photographs here!!  The views are endless and awesome.

The Left and Right Window Arches, below:

Two or three arches in one!

The arches provide wonderful frames for the views beyond.

In the distance is a glimpse of what we will see on our next foray into the park.  Meanwhile, dusk arrives and the light fades.  Photography becomes less interesting at this point, and we stop taking pictures.

You probably noticed all the clouds in the photographs in this post, which made for great photographic opportunities.  The next day, the remnants of Hurricane Norbert came through the area.  I will talk about that more in the next post, for maximum suspense. : )