Arches National Park, Utah 2019, Part 2

Too many good photos for just one post on Arches National Park, just a five minute drive from Moab, Utah.  Here are a few more from that park.

This double arch is spectacular.  Notice the people crawling around underneath it.  There were so many it was impossible to get a photo without people.  At least they provide scale. You could practically drive right up to this one, only a short walk from the parking.

This is also in The Windows section of the park.

Another one in The Windows area of Arches.

Just some random rocks we passed on the way to somewhere else.  The formation in the back is called The Tower of Babel.  The closer one is Courthouse Towers. 

This is the ground we walked on.  Had to show at least one shot of that so you can see how many thin layers of rock are in many places all over the park. 

A couple of shots of good old Balanced Rock, the second most famous sight in the park. 

It does look like a good push could knock it over, but it's managed to withstand ever storm for the last few thousand years, so maybe not that fragile. 

This is another view of Courthouse Towers, with The Organ in the background.  This was the view from the farthest extent of the Park Avenue hike.  Park Avenue is the first hike you pass on the way into the park.  Really quick and easy hike we did the afternoon we arrived.  

This is a view of the whole Park Avenue hike valley.  I imagine the monstrous vertical slabs on the right give the hike its name, like a row of skyscrapers in Manhattan.  

I couldn't resist adding another sunset shot for the last photo from Arches.  This was taken a few minutes apart from the other one on the previous post.  I just love all the tones and colors.  Some of those clouds a hundred miles away are still brightly lit.  

That's all for Arches National Park.  When you have time, please take a look at my next post, on The Needles and Island in the Sky sections of Canyonlands National Park, also close to Moab, Utah. 

If you liked this one, you may also enjoy my first set of photos from Arches National Park also.  

Two more from this one-week trip to national parks in the vicinity of Moab, Utah.

Photos from The Needles section of Canyonlands National Park

Photos from the Islands in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park Hikes, Utah 2019

A one-week trip was enough to take several hikes in each of three national parks around Moab, Utah.  We still had time to relax in the evenings.  We did get an early start each day, finishing breakfast before eight, and being at the trail head by 8:30.  That helps with the heat and the crowds.  Of the three national parks we went to, Arches was by far the busiest.

Arches National Park is appropriately named.  I was thinking there would be just a few, but we must have seen at least twenty arches after doing about six or seven hikes.  I'll get this over with by starting with Delicate Arch, the iconic arch that is on some Utah license plates, and the publicity photos for the park.  Notice there are people in this picture.  They're in the shadow near the base, which lets you see the scale.

Delicate Arch seen through another arch.

One of the hikes we did was called Fiery Furnace.  This hike requires a permit.  They only allow 75 people each day.  The permits for those reserving online are all taken months in advance, but they save some for visitors trying to reserve in person.  When we tried to reserve, all the permits for ranger-guided access were taken for the next five days.  But, they had permits for individuals two days later.  We were a bit concerned about going without a guide, because the hike winds back and forth between a huge group of big vertical outcroppings that form a natural labyrinth.  There are places where you'll definitely have to find the way for yourself.  But the ranger at the visitor center told us not to worry, we'd make it out, even if we did it on our own.  The whole thing only takes 2-3 hours, including detours.  We got really lost a few times, and we also deliberately went off-trail to see what there was to see a few times. We found the amazing arch below at one off-trail dead-end we wandered into.

Here's one from a dead end we were told was worth backtracking several hundred yards for by another hiker who'd been there many times before.  It's called Skull Arch.  Death awaits those who enter!

We watched the sunset a couple of nights.  It wasn't that spectacular, but the light was good off and on.  There was a good high spot near Balanced Rock that we hung out at.  It had views in all directions. Notice the lower clouds in this one.  The lighting in front and back of the clouds creates a great effect.

I couldn't stop watching this cloud, and the rain falling from it. I love how it looks like it's in bands.  I was hoping this would happen, the sunset light lit up the rain.  The brighter orange clouds are many miles further away - maybe a hundred miles away.  We saw some signage in the park that talked about being able to see certain mountains that far away.  

So, onto other arches around the park.  I can't recall the names of all these.  This first one is Landscape Arch.  Several large chunks of it fell back in the nineties, so they don't let people hike under it these days.

We did a hike called The Devil's Garden.  The next few are from there.

We nearly walked off a couple of cliffs on this one.  There were really exposed parts of the hike with long drop-offs alongside the trail, and no rail.  Just stay back from the edge, and you'll be OK.

We took several side-trips off the main trail to see more arches.

This one was taken from one of those exposed ridges along the trail. 

Another double arch, but the last two were side-by-side, while this is one on top of the other. 

This is actually the lower arch of the double arch above.  One of my favorites.

Hope you enjoyed this one.  You can see even more spectacular photos from our visit to Arches National Park in my next post for photos from other hikes in Arches National Park. 

Two more from this one-week trip to national parks in the vicinity of Moab, Utah.

Photos from The Needles section of Canyonlands National Park

Photos from the Islands in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park

DC Tidal Basin Cherry Blossoms 2019

A few photos from our visit to the Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial right near the peak of the cherry blossoms.