Arches National Park

It didn't get as cold last night as it has the past two nights so we expected today to be warmer and it was.  On our way to Arches we passed by Towmater so I took a better picture.

We arrived at Arches around 9:00 a.m.

A lot of the formations have names.  This is called Sheep Rock.  

This is Three Gossips.

This is the sand dunes.  The dunes are not sand but are rock.

Balancing Rock

The first arch we hiked to was North and South Arch.  The man in the opening gives you a perspective as to how large this arch is.

Turret Arch

North and South Arches are connected.  The trail length totaled 2 miles.  Carol was able to make this hike. His knee is feeling better.

 

This is Delicate Arch.  It is probably the most recognizable arch in the country.  Utah has Delicate Arch on its license plate.  It is a three-mile hike to the base of this arch.  We didn't take that hike, but I did hike one-half mile to get a closer picture.  Unfortunately, that picture just got deleted in this location so I will post it again (if I am lucky)  at the end of this blog.

A view of the valley I took as I hiked to the viewpoint of  Delicate Arch

This is the cool spot Carol sat and waited for me to hike to the Delicate Arch overlook.

This is called Fiery Furnace.  You cannot take a hike in this area without a park service ranger.

We took a hike to Sand Dune Arch.  Sharon Benton told us about this arch.  We have been at Arches three other times but had never hiked to the arch.  It was a neat hike.  

This is Sand Dune Arch.

This is Broken Arch

This is Skyline Arch.

We drove through Devils Garden Campground and this and two more following were taken on the drive.  The campground is a tenter's dream.  The sites are well spaced and set in among the rock formations.  There is no electricity or water so RVs would have to boondock.  I always wanted to camp here but now that we have a motorhome, I probably never will.

The last hike we took was to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.

This is Tunnel Arch.  

This is Pine Tree Arch.  I guess it was named that because of the pine tree in the center of the arch.  I hiked here myself.  Carol's knee needed to rest.

Above and below is an arch called "Baby Arch."  It is a new arch and in the beginning stages of transforming from the wall into an arch.  You can see some of the rocks that have fallen from the wall forming the arch.

This is a close up of Delicate Arch.  The top of the arch is five feet thick and it is 60 feet tall.

This is where we ate supper.  I took the night off from cooking.  The words under "Blu Pig" are "BBQ and Blues Joint."  I had BBQ and Carol had catfish.  Both were good.  It was decorated with pictures of famous Blues performers and the music was, of course, Blues.

The Visitor's Center sits at the bottom of this snakelike road.  When you get to the top of this road, the landscape opens up to such grandeur.