Arches National Park

We packed up fairly early this morning, and drove the few miles to Arches National Park again. It was about 8:45am, and the checkout time in the campground is 10am, so we figured there might be some campers pulling out and we could grab a spot. So we drove the 20 miles or so up to the campground, and on the way up we passed several RVs coming down, which was a good sign. When we arrived at the campground we found all sorts of vacant spots, and more people pulling out, so we grabbed our spot and registered quickly. We had planned on camping two nights at Arches, spending all day Sunday here, and as it turned out, even though the campground was full last night, it wasn't much of an inconvenience to camp the first night a short distance down the road.

 

After settling in, Doreen lay down, so I decided to go on a little hike to see some of the rock formations. So, first of all, I'll get some of these Arches out of the way. Here's Landscape Arch, probably the most photographed of the bunch. Apparently in 1991, hikers resting under the arch heard loud cracking noises and fled just before a 60 foot 180 ton slab of the arch came crashing down. They say that arches are falling continuously, but new arches are forming at the same rate. There are about 2000 of them in the park.

And here's Pine Tree Arch. Who knows why it's named that.

It's quite narrow. Here's the view from underneath. And I didn't hear any loud cracking noises.

And Tunnel Arch.

The view through the tunnel.

The arches are just a small part of the view here. There's only a half dozen or so within short hiking distance. But the park is full of interesting rock formations.

And there are all sorts of curvy picturesque dead trees.

Being a long weekend, there were lots of visitors to the park, and it was hard to take pictures without a bunch of miscellaneous people in the view.

The ground was a complete pattern of hiking boots treads.

There are numerous rules posted around the park, for example to "keep on the trails, and no gathering of sticks." This lady was teaching her young son not to follow the rule of carving your initials in the sandstone cliffs! While she was doing this, someone behind me kept yelling "don't carve the rock!" But it didn't seem to have a speck of effect on her.

I thought this licence plate in the parking lot was neat. Except it's probably a Mormon God :(

Back at the campground, I took some photos just nearby.  It sure is a pretty campground!

This is the Tapestry Arch.

I wonder how many years this big rock has been teetering on the edge?

Here's an example of a Happy Camper, with his solar panels TV areal, WiFi antenna and all.

And here's an example of a Unappy Camper!

I have no cell coverage at our campsite, so I had to walk up the road to a higher spot where there is real good coverage 🙂.