Friday, November 9, 2012

Day 7 Arches National Park

Day 7 we spent at Arches National Park. If you go wear comfortable hiking shoes and be prepared to do a lot of hiking if you want to see a lot of the arches. There are only a few that you can see without walking far.
Here are ANP photos:
 Entering the park.
 First stop was at Balance Rock
A nice couple offered to take a picture of the both of us and we returned the favor.
The skies are so blue they look fake at times.
 This arch is called North Window. Wayne looks so small underneath the mammoth arch.
This is the South Window.
This is actually Turret Arch. North,South and Turret arches are all together.
We climbed up Turret Arch and you can see South Window in the background.
On the way down from the Turret Arch you could see both the North & South window at the same time.
me
Delicate Arch was the next stop. We were having a great time scampering up all the red rocks...then came this hike. The sign said three miles Round Trip but we swear it was three miles one way. Wayne of course reached it about 10 minutes before me but as I rounded the side of the mountain and Delicate Arch came in view let me tell you it takes your breath away and you forget how hot and tired you are as you stand there awestruck at its beauty and size. It was well worth the the hike.
 Delicate Arch is the one that you see on computer screens and the license plates in Utah.
I felt sooo small.
This was the hardest part of the hike on the way up. This rock seemed to go up forever. Going down was much easier. The stack of rocks you see in the photo is how they mark the trails.
This section of the park is called Firey Furnace because of how they glow red in the setting sun.
This is the start of the trail to Landscape Arch. The sign said it was a mile hike but here again they were wrong.  Little did we know you had to hike .9 to the trail head then it would be another mile to the arch. Slightly misleading wouldn't you say?
 It was a pretty hike to Landscape Arch and this photo is just a sample.
 Finally we made it!
I just love these old twisted, gnarled trees. They withstand such tough elements.
 Another view of Landscape Arch.
 A really cool gnarly tree.
On the way back to the trail head. We were tired after hiking 10 miles total in the park and we were also out of water. Time to head home and try to catch the sun going down.
A beautiful sunset at the end of a beautiful day!
















 

2 comments:

  1. Absolutely beautiful! I am definitely adding this place to our "holiday list". So nice that you shared your pictures and enlightened me. You guys must be in great shape...I was sweating just reading the post!

    The scenery is amazing! I also wonder how the trees manage to survive?

    Enjoy your travels. Looking forward to more pics!

    :) Geri

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  2. Great photos! Kind of reminds me of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, with the red rock formations.

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