9/4/12 - Arches NP

I've seen lots of pictures of Arches National Park, but had never been there.  Go as soon as you can--they think that Landscape Arch could break anytime!  You want to see it first.


Landscape Arch is 306 feet long.  A 60 foot-long chunk fell off in 1991.

Did you know there are over 2,500 arches in the park? 
(Whose job is it to count them?)

Skyscape Arch














Turret Arch has a big window and a little one.

Did you know an arch is defined as a hole in stone that is at least 3 feet long in any direction? 
(Up and down? 
North and south? 
Sideways?)

 

The hike to Delicate Arch is a long one, and it was hot.  We opted for the shorter hike to a viewpoint across the canyon from it.  (This is the arch that's on the Utah license plates.)

Delicate Arch way across the canyon

Sometimes they call arches "windows".

George and me at the Windows.



And there's a lot more than arches in Arches. 

(Like fins, spires and balanced rocks.) 



Park Avenue (Do you think these look like skyscrapers?)

Balanced Rock



Fiery Furnace Fins



My favorite was Double Arch--it's like two-arches-for-the-price-of-one.  This is the one where I got stuck up and George had to help me a bit.  I'd climbed up on the base of the back arch--but I got to a point where I couldn't go up and couldn't go back down.  He'd gone up a slightly different way, and was able to reach over and lift me up.  


Double Arch

Of course, his story is that he rescued me. 

   Well, maybe he did...

Umm, probably he did...

 

There are more pictures of Arches NP at this link:  Arches National Park