{"id":1864,"date":"2013-06-27T14:17:51","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T14:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=1864"},"modified":"2013-06-27T14:17:51","modified_gmt":"2013-06-27T14:17:51","slug":"arches-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/2013\/06\/27\/arches-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Arches National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Entrance<\/a>
Entrance to Arches National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a couple more hours at Disneyland, we got on the road for a grueling drive through the Mojave to Moab, UT, to see Arches National Park.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>
Tom and Sam enjoying the scenery in the Mojave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along the way we passed by Barstow, CA, the site of the National Training Center, and Victorville, the site of the DARPA robotic car Urban Challenge. \u00a0We also had a chance to overdose on chili dogs at Weinerschnitzel, one of our favorite fast food restaurants when we lived in Texas.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Mojave Desert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite a very late arrival in Moab, we get started bright and early at Arches National Park. \u00a0This was the first stop on this Summer’s trip where we had a lot of heat.<\/p>\n

\"Entrance<\/a>
Entrance to Arches National Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The famous arches of this park are formed by snow and rain eroding the sandstone of the mountains and hills. \u00a0Over time, “fins” are formed in the mountains. \u00a0The fins often erode to from arches, and then over time the arch becomes so thin that it collapses. \u00a0The park offered several opportunities for short hikes (1 to 3 miles) as well as longer, more-serious hikes. \u00a0Due to the heat, we only took the short hikes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A view of part of the Park Avenue hike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of our first stops was the trailhead for a short hike through the “Park Avenue” formations. \u00a0They have this name, because the series of rock formations look a little like a city skyline. \u00a0This one looked to me a little like an Easter Island head.<\/p>\n

\"Along<\/a>
Along the Park Avenue hike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was a one-way hike. \u00a0Candy dropped off Tommy, Sam, and me and then drove to the other end of the hike to pick us up.<\/p>\n

\"Balanced<\/a>
Balanced Rock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the more famous formations in Arches is the Balanced Rock. \u00a0You can walk pretty close to this formation, but there are signs everywhere to stay on marked paths. \u00a0What looks like just sand and gravel is covered by a microscopic “biocrust” that is damaged by footsteps but is essential to minimize soil erosion and as part of the food chain in the region.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Three Gossips<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A view of the North and South Window Arches from Turret Arch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We took at short walk to see the North and South Window arches. \u00a0Not far away are two more arches, called the Turret Arch. \u00a0A disappointing aspect of this park was the huge number of people. \u00a0It’s not too obvious from this picture, because I waited until the crowds had passed to snap the shot, but everywhere we went, we were fighting crowds. \u00a0We did take the “primitive trail” around the back side of these two arches. \u00a0That might have been the only time all day that we weren’t in a big crowd. \u00a0The people in this picture help provide some sense of scale for the size of these arches.<\/p>\n

\"Seeking<\/a>
Seeking shade during the hike to view the Delicate Arch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a picnic lunch we took a short hike to the observation point to see the famous “Delicate Arch,” the unofficial state symbol for Utah. \u00a0The walk was hot and dusty. \u00a0The arch itself was a bit of a disappointment. \u00a0While impressive, unless you want to take a six-mile hike to its base, you cannot get very close.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A distant view of Delicate Arch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think what makes Delicate Arch interesting is that it seems to be standing all alone. \u00a0The other arches are still part of massive fins.<\/p>\n

\"Skyline<\/a>
Skyline Arch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While driving to see the Landscape Arch, we passed Skyline Arch, which might have been the most picturesque one we saw all day.<\/p>\n

\"Landscape<\/a>
Landscape Arch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Landscape Arch (toward the left of this shot) has an interesting story. \u00a0The arch stretches over 100 yards across. \u00a0In 1971, when tourists were allowed to walk up to and under this arch, tourists heard cracking sounds and pebbles began to fall. \u00a0The cracking provided warning for the tourists to flee just before 180 tons of rock fell from the underside of this arch. \u00a0This is as close as you can get now. \u00a0At its thinnest, Landscape Arch is around six feet thick now, and it’s unclear how long it will remain an arch.<\/p>\n

About 1600 we got back in the car and headed to Colorado to position ourselves for touring Rocky Mountain National Park the next day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a couple more hours at Disneyland, we got on the road for a grueling drive through the Mojave to Moab, UT, to see Arches National Park. Along the way we passed by Barstow, CA, the site of the National Training Center, and Victorville, the site of the DARPA robotic car Urban Challenge. \u00a0We also … Continue reading Arches National Park<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bucksurdu.com\/bucksblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}