mark feldman's summer trip arches national park - july 21

i set out early my first morning, determined to see as many of these fascinating monuments to the geological cycle as possible.  and there were quite a few of them - an outright arch-ipelago! (ba-dum-bum)

a ranger informed me that there were over 1500 arches in the park!  to qualify as an arch, the narrowest open point must be at least three feet wide.  another arch factoid - an arch only lasts on the order of thousands of years, a mere hiccup in the life of our planet.  so we're actually quite lucky to have this place here right now.  my day included the 7 mile devil's garden loop, which takes you to landscape arch, scrambles over sandstone so soft you can do sit-ups on it comfortably (guess who tested this out), and continues across the vast desert plains.  i spent the hottest part of the day pulling over to all the short trails to the various arches, then took a ranger tour of the "fiery furnace" in late afternoon.  all the arches had their own unique aspects, but landscape and delicate arches were the highlights - which makes sense, since those two arches are in a virtual dead heat in the competition for the status of utah's most recognizable landmark.  i guess that would make them arch-rivals, eh?  (ba-dum-bum)

landscape arch

delicate arch

pine tree  arch

partition arch

double arch

double o arch

navajo arch

archarcharcharcharcharch archarcharcharcharcharch archarcharcharcharcharch archarcharcharcharcharch archarcharcharcharcharch archarcharcharcharcharch archarcharcharcharcharch

tunnel arch

turret arch

untitled arch

twin arch

private arch

enough with the arches already, how about some canyons?

back to my homepage

north and south window arches

wall arch