Arches National Park

October 22, 2021

I got to Arches National Park about 6:20 a.m. The desk clerk said it would be full by 8:30 and closed again and I really wanted to see it before I left Moab! I parked in the Visitor’s Center for about 30 minutes. They weren’t even charging admission, so I was able to just drive in without being stopped at the gate. Lots of people started leaving the lot at the Visitor’s Center and began going up the hill in the dark. I wasn’t sure where everyone was going so I just began following them up! It was so beautiful to see the sun coming up over the rocks and to have the moon in my photos!

It turns out that people going up the hill early were the hardcore hikers that were assuring they got a parking spot at their designated trailheads! I was able to get some hikes/overlooks in before anyone else even got there!

Delicate Arch is carved in Entrada Sandstone. The top is five-teet thick and has an opening 45-feet high and 33-feet wide.

Water and time have sculpted Delicate Arch and erosion continues to slowly wear away its features, as it slowly succumbs to the same force that created it.

Before the park got crowded, I was able to go to the end of the paved route and hike to three different arches.

I started with the Double Window arch and then over to the Pinetree Arch.

Double Arch

The larger of the two openings has a span of 144-feet, the third longest in the park; and a height of 112-feet, the highest in the park. In the past, Double Arch was called Double Windows, Twinbow Bridges, and the Jug Handles.

Pinetree Arch

Landscape Arch

The hike to Landscape Arch was about 2.5 miles round trip and so incredibly beautiful. It began through two walls that went straight up to form a narrow entryway to unreal scenery!

Landscape is the longest arch in the park. In September 1991 hikers thought they heard cracks of thunder from distant clouds. Visitors resting under Landscape Arch noticed loud cracking and popping noises overhead. They flad as small rocks tumbled from the slender 306-foot long span. Moments later, a 60-foot long rock slab peeled away from the arches right side. When the dust settled, 180 tons of fresh rock debris lay scattered on the ground!

Water had been slowly shaping the arch for centuries, dissolving cement between sand grains, seeping into tiny cracks, freezing and expanding. Unseasonably heavy rains the preceeding ten days may have filled pore spaces within the sandstone. The added weight may have finally overwhelmed the rock slab in its timeless sturggle with gravity.

Fiery Furnace

Contrary to its name, the Fiery Furnace is not a hot place. It was named for the warm glow seen on the rocks in late afternoon. It is actually a maze of cool, shady conyons between towering sandstone walls. The chaos of fins, spires and canyons has been called "void, silent and almost uncanny in its solitude." The many vertical rock walls, or fins, are a result of movement eons ago far beneath the earth's surface. Over time erosion has been shaping the Fiery Furnace. Rain, snow and ice have deepened and widened the cracks, creating the towering fins.

I took my time on the way down to catch lots of the other overlooks that I had missed while driving up in the dark! 🙂

Left the park about noon and headed back to Phoenix! Ate WAY too much junk food to stay awake during the drive home! Energy drinks just weren’t cutting it! I got in about 7:15 p.m. Phoenix time and think I was in bed by 7:45! Soooooo tired, but such a great week!!