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| Yippee Utah National Parks have re-opened and the world and his wife have descended on Arches N P... But we are taken out of the queue as we have an annual pass and directed through a side road to the visitors centre, we felt like royalty :) |
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| The steep/switchback road up into the park..... |
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| One of the first sandstone structures of this amazing park.... |
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| Around every corner more amazing rock formations.... |
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| The Balancing Rock and next pic.....how does it stay there.... |
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| The Double Arch one of the first arches we see, a short half mile hike to view and then a mile hike on the primitive trail to the Windows Arches, pic below....there are over 2000 arches in the park, don't worry I haven't photographed them all ! |
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| The eyes have it.....North and South Windows Arches..... |
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| Turret Arch... |
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| Fantastic Fiery Furnace...so called as when the sunsets the rocks take on a red glow.....it is such a maze of canyons that you are only allowed in on a ranger guided hike.... |
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| Our next hike is via Landscape Arch which has a tale.....in 1991 a group of hikers were sheltering under the arch when they heard crackling and popping and then noticed small rocks falling from the structure so they high tailed out of the there just in time before a 60 foot slab fell from the arch....water had been slowly shaping the arch for centuries and dissolving the sand and seeping into the cracks and freezing and expanding.....unseasonably heavy rains of the previous 10 days may have filled the pore spaces and the added weight caused the slab to break away.... |
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| On from Landscape Arch the trail becomes more challenging as it climbs over sandstone slabs with steep narrow ledges (this is the trail !) |
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| Still on the trail.......I find the "weathering" of the rock fascinating... |
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| Next stop is Navajo Arch...... |
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| Last arch on this hike....Partition Arch with a great view across the valley..... |
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| On the trail back down to the parking area..... |
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| Time for another look at the view on the way down..... |
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| Next stop Pine Tree Arch and this lass is quite happy to watch us pass along the trail...... |
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| Heading back out of the park, I can't resist more photos of the majestic monuments... |
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| The Courthouse Tower.... |
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| Yorkieman at The Petrified Sand Dunes with The La Sal Mountains in the back ground...... |
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| The sun is going down on one of my favourites as we leave the park, the "Pharaoh" another balancing rock...this area is known as Park Avenue a collection of fabulous structures.....nature at it's best..... We have had a fantastic day, we are so happy that the parks have been re-opened in Utah in time for us to enjoy this most wonderful part of the world, we feel so sorry for the folks who due to the shutdown didn't get to experience what we have experienced today...... Over and out for now from the very Happy Campers....... |
Hi Sue & Michael,
ReplyDeleteGlad to know that the national parks are open again, and that you were fast tracked. Hope you both gave a regal wave as you drove through the queues. I was beginning to think that arches were the new water towers. Only joking it all looks spectacular.
Keep on trucking.
Cheers,
Ann & Dave
Hey ann and Dave
DeleteI'm having water tower withdrawal not seen one for weeks !! We are now in Cortez, Colorado and the weather has taken a turn for the worst....Yorkieman is cold so he's going for some inner warmth !
Cheers from here
M & S x