Arches National Park

After we left Zion Narrows, we drove half the night to reach a small BLM campground outside of Arches National Park and Moab, UT. We set up our tents in total darkness, so not to wake the other campers. When we woke up, we went to Arches National Park.

Arches is a small park. We had one day and saw 70 percent. With two days, you could see everything including the best back country hike that we just did not have time for ( a loop hike to the Marching Men). The national park has the largest concentration of natural arches in the world.

This fin is known as the Three Gossips

We got extremely lucky, the day we went it was about 90 degrees, which is considered on the cool side in the desert during the summer.

We went through the entrance gate and went to the Visitor Center. We watched a short video about how arches are made. They are made by wind, rain, and gravity erosion, where as natural bridges are made by water going through it. Then we went out looking for arches. Besides arches, there are a ton of rock formations most of them have cool names. I tried to write them down so we would remember what we were looking at when we looked at pictures.

Sheep Rock

Balance Rock

Double Arch

Skyline Arch, that is DJ under it

Landscape Arch, this one will probably crash down in our lifetime.
In places it is only six feet wide, but it is 290 feet. Almost the
length of a football field!

This is Delicate Arch, the most famous arch in
Utah. It is the arch on the Utah license plate

Around late afternoon we left the park. Laurie couldn't take being dirty anymore so we got our tent from the campground and she sprang for a motel. We all took a shower and then went to Pizza Hut. DJ and I wanted to explore some more but Laurie didn't. She stayed at the motel to do laundry. DJ and I did a short hike on a trail named Park Ave. So named because on both sides rock fins rise up like skyscrapers in New York City. It was a really pretty hike that evening and I am glad we did it.

Park Ave.

On a side note, the motel in Moab, UT that we stayed at was the only time I slept in a bed or a building for the entire seven weeks. I highly advice going to Arches for the scenic wonders. For a tourist, one day is fine, but for a hiker, I would advise two days, to do the Towering Men and also the Devils Garden loops.