Sightseeing: Arches National Park
Dave invited me out for breakfast this morning. We tried our hand at the Pancake Haus, which we thought would have quite a variety to choose from. Wrong. After waiting 30 minutes (standing, I might add), we were finally seated. The restaurant turned out to be VERY small, which we couldn't see from the waiting room. But, it also turned out to be interesting for Dave. Our waitress had worked at Airgas in Salt Lake City. So, they have a few things to chat about. We left with them both agreeing: there is life after Airgas.
As we were leaving, I walked under a tree and was "initiated" upon by a bird. Yuk. Dave kindly got the mess out of my hair. Yuk, again.
We have met up with the Colorado River again, here in Moab. It has a lot of silt from the constant erosion in this area.
Our next stop was the visitor's center at Arches National Park.
On the road leading from the entrance to the visitor's center, we passed a sign that stated "Bighorn Sheep Crossing." Needless to say, this got Dave very excited at the possibilities of spotting wildlife. We inquired at the Ranger's desk as to where we might spot the sheep, and we were told that there were only 60 in the entire 2,000-acre park. So, our chances were practically nil. But, leave it to Dave, he found this one!
We watched the overview video, which was very informative, as they usually are. This film not only covered Arches NP, but also the Canyonlands National Park.
We started our drive at noon and climbed quite rapidly. Here's a shot looking back toward Moab.
Quickly, we were quite overwhelmed, once again, by the beauty of this great land. Our first view was called Park Avenue. And, what an appropriate name for the landscape. It was rich with beauty and vastness.
Again, I am providing the best of the best pics that I took. I will describe those that have a little story to tell.
So, is it the precarious balance that keeps this top rock from falling?
This is a picture of the beginning of creating an arch. First chunks fall out from underneath, and then the rock above continues to erode.
Here's a picture with some cars (teeny-tiny in the center) to give you a perspective of how very tall these cliffs and arches really are.
Balancing Rock--This rock is about a hundred feet tall.
Various Arches
Window Pane Arches
Delicate Arch--to get to this arch, it is a 1.5 mile walk--so this long-distance shot is the best I could do!
Colorful Landscape
Dave is off to retrieve some very green rock/silt for me. I can't get over the deep green color. Dave now has a nice rock collection to bring home. We feel like Lucy and Desi in "The Long, Long Trailer" (if you saw that movie, you know what I mean!)
Water erodes down between cracks in slabs of sandstone. The water then separates the sandstone and creates these thin ridges.
This is a picture of a rock that is a favorite among climbers. You can't see the climbers in this first picture, but one is halfway up the rock. In the next picture, you can see him up close. There were actually two, but one is not visible in this close-up.
This drive took us four hours to complete. There is only one road in, and you come back out the same way. I took over 250 pictures. Each turn in the road gave us a unique angle and different perspective. So, I was busy snapping pictures all day.
After taking this drive, we worked up quite an appetite--Dave avoiding cliffs and other sightseers, and me jumping in and out of the car to take pictures. So, off to a local Mexican restaurant. It was pretty good. But, not nearly as good as the one in our old home town of Sylmar.
This evening we watched some TV and then dozed off fairly early. We had kicked around staying another day to go to the Canyonlands NP, but we have had enough red dirt sightseeing for a while. So, we are headed to Colorado to see our granddaughter and her family within a few days.
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