Arches National Park...Part Two

 

(Click Here for part one) People come from all over the world to see the Arches in Arches NP.  If you want to see a good bunch of Arches, all within fairly easy walking distance, then go to the Windows area of the park.  There are five named arches: North Window, South Window, Turret Arch, and the two arches that make up Double Arch all in this concentrated area.  I have, in my lifetime, walked to at least four of them (where I actually stood under the arch), but when it is closing in on a hundred degrees, and as I close in on 70 years old, I saw no need to visit them that close again.

Tell me that this guy, standing guard along the road to the Windows area, doesn't look like it came out of a Sci-Fi movie...

 

Next is the most famous arch, Delicate Arch.  You can see it on many of the Utah license plates.  I walked the football field length to the lower observation area to get this shot.  There is an upper observation area, which is about 4 more football field lengths, and 100 feet in elevation...have been there before, and frankly, the view from the lower area is just about as good, perhaps better, due to the angle.

There is a way to walk all the way up to Delicate Arch.  It is a three mile round trip, considered moderate to strenuous, with about 500 feet in elevation.  This white line shows only a portion of the trail, and if you look close, you can see people on the trail...and yes, I have made this hike twice in my lifetime, and the third time I made it about 2/3rds of the way...but the heat (95+) and my body (can you say 'fat') would not make it the rest of the way.  Stephanie and Ryan (my youngest two) made it there along with their mother.  The first time was when I was in college...Michael (oldest) and Stephanie were toddlers...Ryan was not around yet.  It was probably late February or early March, there were only a handful along the trail.  When I got there, it was one of those moments when you say, "How did something this large end up way up here..."

There are over 2,000 documented arches in Arches NP, most of them so small you have a hard time calling them all an "Arch".  Above is Skyline Arch, on the northern side of the park near what they call the Devil's Garden area, pictured below.

        

Marcia has visited Arches about five times now...only getting out on her second visit to ride her GoGo along a couple of trails.  She LOVES the park because you can see so much right from the front seat of the vehicle...in this case, our Camper Van.  So "IF" you are less mobile, this is the park for you to visit.  And although the temps were in the 90's, high 90's around 4 pm, you can still enjoy the park from the comfort of your vehicle.  Be sure to bring lots of liquids (not speaking about alcohol which is not good for you in the heat), and bring some food since there are no concessions except, perhaps, at the visitor center at the entrance to the park.  However, Moab, which use to be this little town, is now a thriving city with lots of eateries, stores, and lots of fun things like a Zip Line, kayaks rentals, lots of guides who will show you around the National Parks by helicopter, horse or mules, and especially by 4 wheel drive vehicles.

Next up on the Blog, Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway U-128

 

Arches National Park...Part One

 

As you enter the park and start the assent up the winding road, the wall that runs along the drivers side is majestic.  Few, if any, National Park has such a bold opening statement as this drive does.  It truly sets the tone for your visit.  

   

I think some of these pillars of stone look like old fashion chess pieces, gathered together.  Well, enough of my talking...I am going to let the pictures talk...

 

There are many areas in South Utah that have these fine wavy layers of sedimentary rock.

 

      

Lots and lots of rock formations.  Some look like pillars, some seem to have faces, all are unique.

    

 

   

  

 

This is Balancing Rock, which is at the entrance to "The Windows", a large collection of Arches, many of which are very large.

 

 

 

Before the "Windows Area", you pass by the Garden of Eden.  And what do you see on those rocks???

 

Yep, a host of Rock Climbers.  We have seen Rock Climbers in Arches before, but not in this area.  They always draw a crowd, many of whom start climbing smaller rocks...must have been a good twenty that joined in on the climbing in the 15 minutes we were there.

 

Tomorrow I will post the rest of our visit to Arches...along with a scenic drive that starts right there in Moab. 

To the Coolness of Colorado

 

Our stay in Green River was HOT!  Without shade, the motorhome struggled to keep the inside to a reasonable cool feeling, and sitting out in the shade did not make it any better.  Let alone, our little Indy Girl was not happy about the patch of grass we camped next to...not happy one bit.  Perhaps another park nearby might have more shade...but it was only for two nights, and the nights cooled down around 1 am.  YUCK!

After getting gas at $4.85...(amazing how the nothing town of Salina Utah was down to $4.18!), we headed east on I-70 for 25 miles, then south on to US-191 towards Moab.

Quickly off in the distance you can see the northwest tip of Arches National Park.

The closer you get to Moab, the prettier it gets.  The only complaint that I have, and I have had it for years, is the ...

... Power Lines and Power Stations that interfere with the view.  If you look close above, there are power lines along the entire bottom of the pictures...you can certainly see them at the bottom left of the picture.

And this picture here has a train, and the power lines in front of this gorgeous mountain.

Here is the entrance to the park.  Been to Arches around a dozen times in my lifetime, it is a very eye-catching, interesting, scenic park.  Although we considered going again this time, we did not want to add the 3-4 hours more to our drive into Colorado, and it was just too HOT to stay at a park in Moab.  Marcia has been to Arches 3 different times...so we did not feel it was worth it again.   The first time I took Marcia there it was totally a surprise to her.  We had been married for less than a half of a year, did not have our first motorhome yet.  Came to visit my daughter in Salt Lake City, and on the way home I choose the road through Moab.  As we left the park, being there for a mere 3 hours, Marcia calls my mom...the conversation went something like this.

"Hey ma, you know what your son just did to me?"

[I gulp]  Mom says, "I can't imagine..."

"He just took me through Arches National Park!  It is so gorgeous!"  [I wipe my brow]

The views in and around Moab are breathtaking...I guess that is why the town is growing in population...up by 35% since 1990.

We did drive by one arch, Wilson Arch, which can be seen in the middle of the picture above, and more easily in the picture below.

Beyond that are even different rock formations.  We did not get a picture of the Hole in Wall, one of the 'many' Hole in the Wall landmarks in Utah, one of which is certainly Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall.

We arrived at our destination around 1:30 pm, Target Tree Campground, a San Juan National Forest campground.  It is about 20 miles east of Cortez, at 7,600 feet.  Yes, we have shade.  It is currently (5:00 pm Tuesday) at 79 degrees, and it will be down in the mid to lower 50's tonight.  That is pretty much the forecast for yesterday, today, tomorrow...etc.   More about the park in tomorrows blog.

Arches and a Nasty Fall

How can you start a blog posting about Arches without a picture of an arch, or in this case, “arches”.  Above is a picture of Double Arch, from the car.  In the past I have walked up to and under the large arch in double arch…but there is no way Marcia can get there because there is no way the GoGo can make it.  One thing about Arches is that you can enjoy it from the car, from outside the car, or up close and personal.

Up and personal like this shot.  The Three Gossips, Sheep Rock, Tower of Babel, and The Organ and the rock climbers.

  

Here's a better look at the Gossips and Sheep Rock on the left, and this is The Organ on the right, which is only partially seen in the foreground right in the larger picture above these two….

Which leaves this one as the Tower of Babel, and in the upper left you can see two little dots near the top on the thin side of the mountain….headed up.

And if you think the title of this posting has anything to do with one of these guys….well, you would be correct….more of that later.

   

You enter the park, and after a stop at the Visitor’s Center, climb up some switchbacks to an amazing display of rocks and cliffs and colors and views.  You drive along for a few miles without seeing an “Arch”, and you don’t mind at all…it is just an awesome view.  

Soon, you come to the “Park View” where you can walk a mile, like these folks, over to see The Gossips, Sheep Rock, etc in an area they call “Coutthouse Towers”, (shown previously above)….or just stay in your car like we did and drive because you will be there in two driving miles.

Between Courthouse Towers and the Window Area, you can see a lot of Petrified Sand Dunes, a formation of very old sand dunes which have turned to stone under the weight of other material which has long ago washed away.

    

And as you come to the Widows area, you come to Balanced Rock and the surrounding formations nearby.  The top rock which looks “balanced” is the size of three school buses!  After you pass Balanced Rock, you take the spur road to the Windows Section.

Here at North Arch you can see just how large it really is in comparison to the people at the base of the arch.  South Arch is to the right of this arch, but we did not take the trail to see it…but I know you can get a picture of both arches side by side if you get at the right angle.

The double arch, as I mentioned before, is in the Windows Section, along with this formation of rocks called “Elephant Parade”.  Can you see the first two elephants?

The windows section is one of the more popular area of the park, and with everything to see, one could understand why.

Next we went over to the Delicate Arch Trail parking lot.  Above you can see people off in the distance on their 3+ mile round trip.

But the road to view Delicate Arch from other view points was washed out yesterday, and still under water.  They hope to have it open again tomorrow, Thursday at the latest.  Thank goodness this is one thing we did three plus years ago when I drove Marcia through the park quickly on our Utah trip due to my daughter’s surgery.  Not sure we will be back to see it this year because we still need to visit Canyonlands over the next two days.

While I excused myself to use the little boys room…Marcia snuck in a selfie to show off her new haircut.

Here we are looking 15 miles or so across Salt Valley at Devils Garden, which is where the road ends.  The single darker rock structure is called Dark Angel, and it is a 5 mile round trip walk to it from the parking lot at Devils Garden.

To get to Devils Garden, you have to pass by the Fiery Furnace, which is off limits to hikes without a ranger or a permit with you.

And some more wonderful rock formations.

   

And Broken Arch, which you can see most of it from the car, and Sand Dune Arch, which is a short walk through a narrow slot, but well worth it for the cool air inside the rocks.

And Skyline Arch which you can also see from the car.

And finally we make it to Devils Garden.  This is also a popular place in the park, and it is also where the campground is located….but typically full this time of the year.

So we slowly head back out from Devils Garden to the park entrance.  As we come around the Tower of Babel, a car and a truck have stopped, a guy runs across the road….I sense something is wrong.

There is only one climber in sight….lower than before…but alone.

   

A park ranger drives up, siren on, gets out and scampers up the rocks at the urging of the guy just in front of him.

In the meantime, the loan climber starts to make his way down.  Soon a EMS worker, and then an Ambulance, and even a County Sheriff arrive.  I found out from one of the guys who was first to stop that a man from New Zeeland had fallen…but was responsive and appeared to have broken limbs and probably ribs.  Rock Climbers are another bred of human…..  

As for us, we enjoyed our day in the park, that’s for sure.  Tomorrow, Canyonlands, probably the Island in the Sky area.