Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Arches National Park


That's me hiding behind the sign.  There are no restaurants and no grocery stores in the park, so take your lunch.  Stop at the visitor center to fill your water bottles, because there isn't any more available except at the campground.  A drive thru will take about 2 hours.  If you plan to do any hiking in the summer, it is a good idea to go early.  It is hot and there is little shade.


Trails at Arches National Park are marked with small rock piles, called cairns.  I started with the 1-mile Park Avenue trail.  You can either have someone drive to the end of the trail and pick you up or turn around and hike back, making it two miles round trip.  I remembered to take water, but forgot my asthma inhaler.  I made it, but was huffing and puffing loudly.  There was a tour group of 40 coming down the stairs when I finally got to the end, so I had a seat and waited for them.  One man asked how long would I like them to take.  I responded, "Walk as slow as you like.  I need a rest."  You would not have thought I was in good enough shape to have completed a half marathon a few days before by the way I was struggling to breathe.  Maybe I should get an extra inhaler to stash in my backpack so I can't forget it.  

            
If you click to enlarge the above photo you should be able to get a look at the rock cairns. 


I got my first Earth Caches at Arches.  The Windows Section (above) is one of them.  There are no physical caches to find, but there are virtual caches that direct you to interesting geological formations.  To mark it as found, you have to answer questions about the area.  For this one, there is a choice of 7 questions.  I chose:  "Where did the salt in the Paradox evaporite beds come from?"  I'm not giving the answer.  Do your own homework.  If you'd like to see the complete cache description and questions, click here.  

While I was hiking the trail around the Windows section, a huge gust of wind blew the hat off the head of an older woman near me.  It flew down into a crevice where she couldn't easily descend.  A Frenchman nearby climbed down to retrieve it for her.  See, they are not all annoying loudmouths.  That group at the campground did not represent their country well. 

19 comments:

Brian Miller said...

ooo...love the cool rock formations....an earth cache...neat.

jack69 said...

Thanks for the info and tips. The pictures are good.
I hope we get to see this live and in person.

Liz Mays said...

I've been there before and it's absolutely gorgeous, just as you show. I kinda chuckled at your hat story.

Anonymous said...

So beautiful! Love it...

Yeah I am training future stalkers...LOL!

Amanda said...

Arches is gorgeous. Canyonlands is too, but watch out for the sand fleas there. Nasty little buggers, no pun intended.

Yes, going early in the summer is a MUST.

Sounds like you're having a blast!

Bernie said...

This place is great.....a place I would so love to see one day.......:-) Hugs

Tempo said...

incredible pics Jen, Id love to see these places. but...

sage said...

It is a special place... Although I won't make it to Arches this summer, I'll be back in Red Rock Country next week!

Vince said...

You seen to have a thing about moody photos in front of signs, is there a Kafkaesque narrative. :)

Fred Alton said...

I envy you on the road and camping out like this. BTW - where/in what state is The Arches National Park? Loved looking at the pictures and reading your story.

Felicity Grace Terry said...

How beautiful are those rock formations -so wonderfully alien.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

the 4th image is world famous,
lovely post.
thanks for sharing!

Heather said...

That was awesome! Loved the pics! You think maybe it was BECAUSE of the marathon a few days before that you were out of breathe?! Just saying..

Jen said...

When my asthma is under control I never get out of breath like that...it doesn't matter how many miles. We're not talking breathing a little heavy. We're talking can't catch my breath, extremely labored breathing.

Arches National Park is in Utah.

I think Vince gives me more credit than I deserve. I don't even know what that means.

Kelly said...

Earth caches....what an interesting concept!

Pseudo said...

I love desert beauty and rock formations. Great post and beautiful shots.

Kathleen Scott said...

Jen, those pictures are heartbreakingly beautiful!

Kathleen Scott said...

And, yes, please stash a spare inhaler.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jen:

So glad you stopped by my site so I could discover yours. I love your hat story! I'm just heading south with my husband to do the national parks in Utah..we leave tomorrow and I'm excited beyond belief to get my camera out and capture it all. I'll visit again and read more of your posts when I get back...:)

Lynette

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