Arches National Park, UT

Well, we chose Arches National Park, and it was a great choice. The Golden Age Pass is a wonderful thing. It got us in once again for free, gratis. If you are “of an age” you must get one. For the first time since the start of this trip we are getting a chance to do some hiking. Today it was 90 degrees and the winds were 15 MPH.

Westerners originally settled the area we now call Arches NP in the late 1890’s. A fella by the name of Wolf and his young son set up camp in the area next to a small stream. With a steady source of water they were actually pretty successful. His daughter joined them a few years later and the family managed the ranch well into the 1930s.

The Wolf’s original home is still standing.

The name Arches NP is certainly descriptive. There are many natural arches in the park and the area is continuing to develop new arches, albeit very slowly.

While at "Windows" I tried to get you a feel for the scope of these formations using my iPhone's video feature, but the wind was blowing me around quite a bit and it resulted in a shaky show.

The arch used on the Utah license plate is “Delicate Arch”. While this arch can be viewed from a pull-off on the park road, we elected to get a hike in. Supposedly this was to be a three mile hike. I suppose it was, but they did not mention that it was at a forty-five degree angle. We are at an altitude of about 3900’ here, and we have been at this or higher elevations for the last two weeks. We are reasonably acclimated to the altitude, but this hike was a bear.

The reward was a close up view of Delicate Arch from an angle that only the hardy (or young) will see.

Barbara points to the parking lot off in the far distance on our way back from "Delicate Arch". The lot is about a hand above her finger.

We finished the day with an anniversary toast with a very nice cab compliments of son Chris and his wife Lisa.

Tomorrow we will move on to Canyonlands National Park. We will be entering from the north. There is another entrance about an hour and a half south, but that portion of the park will have to wait for our next visit.