The day after exploring Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point, we decided to head northeast - towards another unique collection of wonders - Arches National Park. We paid the entrance fee at the gate and we then followed a long, winding road uphill that eventually took us to the top of a large cliff. When we came in, we knew that we were in for something dramatically different from the scenery we saw the day before.
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| The scenery upon our welcome. |
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| The Organ, another of the awe-inspiring rock formations that welcome you to Arches. |
We continued through the road and made a turnoff towards the Windows. There were a couple of neat formations along the way, but this was just an introduction to some really fascinating ones up ahead. We arrived at the end of the road and parked at the loop.
We explored for a little bit, and then we decided to do a short, yet rewarding hike - Double Arch. It was only about a half mile, but when we arrived at the base of Double Arch we were took by awe. To think that it was formed naturally is truly an outstanding feat.
One other interesting aspect about Double Arch that I recall was the echo near this place. You could talk at a whisper and it would still produce an echo. Even your footsteps would produce an echo.
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| Double Arch. |
Shortly after, we headed back out of the Windows section and back on the main road through the park. We headed towards the right end of the large junction of the park, towards the trailhead for Delicate Arch. When we arrived at the parking lot for Delicate Arch, we noticed there were a lot of cars. It was a little tough to find a parking place, but we managed to find one.
We got out our bags for water and food, and began the hike up towards Delicate Arch. We were in for a fairly difficult hike. There were lots of small hills we had to climb up and over, plus a very large hill I dubbed "The Never Ending Hill". This one was named due to the fact that it seemed like it took forever to climb up.
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| "The Never Ending Hill" we had to climb up. |
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| Beginning the second major climb. |
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| View opposite Delicate Arch. |
We finally reached the top of the hill, but we had yet another climb around a large rock.(luckily this one didn't seem like an eternity). This one was slightly more dangerous since there was an exposure to heights. As soon as we turned the corner, there we saw it.
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| Delicate Arch. |
After seeing this arch on numerous posters and Utah license plates for my entire 18 years, I finally got face-to-face with the arch for the first time. I can now see why it is so famous... it truly is a remarkable work of nature.
We snacked here for a good hour, marveling at the arch and made our return journey. Luckily the trail was a lot easier this time since it was mostly downhill.
We then headed for the other junction of the park, heading towards Devils Garden.
There were a couple of neat attractions on the way that we stopped at to take pictures, but there were several that we missed.
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| Fiery Furnace. |
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| Neat formations on the side of the road. |
Soon we arrived at Devils Garden. There were lots of places to park here, but nearly every single one of the parking spots were filled. We finally found a place to park and headed on the trailhead. We didn't have much time (or energy) to explore the arches situated further along the main trail, so we chose to hike to the two closest to us: Pinetree Arch and Tunnel Arch. Both were only about half a mile.
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| Pinetree Arch. |
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| Tunnel Arch. |
By this time it was late afternoon. Dad thought it was a good idea for us to see the sunset at The Windows, so we made our way back to The Windows section of the park, but we still had some time to see the attractions that we missed earlier.
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| Skyline Arch with a tree in the foreground. This arch was fun to shoot with the tree. |
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| Skyline Arch. |
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| Sand Dune Arch. This one was difficult to shoot since the lighting was poor. |
I can now see why Sand Dune Arch was named as such - there was a LOT of sand in the area! I could still feel sand in my sneakers long after we came back.
After we left Sand Dune Arch, we headed towards The Windows. By this time, the sun was getting ready to set. We made it just in time for a really neat sunset at the North and South Windows.
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| North Window. |
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| North Window, closer. |
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| Turret Arch. |
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| Last rays of sun in The Garden of Eden (near The Windows). |
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| Panorama of The Windows. |
It was very pretty to see how the sun dramatically changed the color of the rock. It was quite beautiful. It was starting to get dark, so we headed back down to Moab.
We saw all of these sights in less than a day, which was truly overwhelming for me. Unfortunately though there is still more to Arches that I have yet to see. Until next time, Moab.
Arches is closer to Moab than Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point (only about 5 miles from downtown Moab). As you head north from the town, there is a turnoff on your right that leads to the park. Like the rest of the parks near Moab, the entrance fee is only $10 and is good for a whole week. It's a small price to pay to experience a truly magical place.
