Arches National Park

What could be better than the sunrise on the shore of the Colorado River?

On the morning of Sunday, June 21, 2015, we looked out of the tent.
The Great River flowed nearby, the birds were chirping and were meeting the new day.

The sun rose and the color of the rocks near the river had changed...

We threw things into the car and drove along the river to the bridges that were visible from the campsite.

We met with the sun on the pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River.

Well, the road was leading us to the Arches National Park.

Arches National Park is located near the town Moab, in Utah.
*Arches National Park*
The park was founded April 12, 1929 and its area is 309 sq.km.
The park has more than 2,000 natural arches formed from sandstone, which gave the name of the park.

And here is the entrance to the Park - Visitor Center.
GPS-coordinates: 38°37'01.0"N, 109°37'02.7"W

You can take a map of the park here, which shows the most beautiful places...
And you move to a fairy tale, created by nature.

There is a lot of information about the park online...
Therefore, I will not include the names of arches and view areas - you can find the information themselves.
I will only say that the rocks and arches are consist of sandstone and so look due to soil erosion and strong winds.
The process of erosion continues and the arches are destroyed gradually.
Over 40 arches have collapsed completely, since 1970.

The cars moved slowly on the road and visitors admired the views of the right and left...

There are many view points where you can stop and take a walk to the rocks.

The cliffs are all different...
The rocks look different from the different angles.
Some cliffs are consist of red sandstone but the others of pink sandstone.
Your imagination and the sun complete the picture of nature.

Some cliffs resemble the sentinels, the standing guard at the park...

We were stopping at each view area, were looking the map, not to miss such a beauty.

But many cars were moving somewhere ahead...

"That's strange people, why are they in a hurry"? - We were talking.
We can not miss these landscapes.

We moved by the road and the rocks became more like the monuments.

The rocks were similar to the destroyed fortress...

Maybe, towers...

Or, Capitol Reef...

The first arches appeared in the haze of hot air...

Yes, it was the kingdom of the rocks, and it was not a place to live.
But even here, the life sought to the sun, clinging to the rocks.

It was still morning, but it was very hot.
We were tired and we not stayed at the stops near the red-hot rocks for a long time.

But we like many other travelers, have left a pyramid - "Patrick was here".

Come on to the car with the air conditioner and move ahead...

It is sculpture. An architect is the Nature...

Let's take a walk...

We were driving along the road through the Arches National Park.

Ahead, a large parking area was occupied by cars
We drove up and started to look for an empty seat.
But someone drove off and we parked.
What is located here, why are so many tourists?
We got out of the car and saw a poster...
The trail to Delicate Arch starts here...

There are many natural arches in Arches National Park.
You can miss and not watch some arches...
Except the "Delicate Arch", which is known all over the world.

There is the trail of length 2.5 km from the parking lot to the "Delicate Arch", a route up the hill, under the scorching sun.

The old barn is located near from the beginning of the trail...

It was the "Wolfe Ranch".
The family of Civil War veteran John Wolf (John Wesley Wolfe) have lived here for 10 years, since 1898.
They were the first settlers in the territory of Arches National Park.

The trail went up the hill...

It was hot and we rested often.

We were not alone, the dozens of people were going up and down.

When we climbed the first hill, we understood why many cars were not stopping at the first lookout points after the entrance to the park.
All guys hurried to here, while there were the forces (because it was very hot) and a parking was free.
Well, the other view points you can see, when you will drive back - because the road at the park is only one.
We advise you to do so...

But, our uphill continues...

The hardest part of the trail was near the red-hot cliffs.

We rested often in the shade of stones.

Someone left a commemorative pyramid on the trail.

The climbing was ended to the mountain and we were on a giant plateau.

But the path was at the edge of the cliff...

The Arches appeared in the rocks, which were created out of red and pink sandstone.

Here is the arch we liked...

We looked through the arch and saw that what we wanted!

It was a "Delicate Arch"!

The "Delicate Arch" stands alone and does not connect with any of the rocks.
The height of the arch - 20 meters and the opening height - 14 meters.
The Arch got its name in the 1933-1934's, when a scientific expedition worked in this area.

Tourists were sitting and were standing on the rocks opposite the Arch, they were in the waiting line to make a photo.

We joined to them.

The Arch stands on the edge of a precipice and we are like ants against the creation of nature.

An erosion and a wind destroy the Arch every day and probably come a time when it will collapse...
Therefore, if you have the opportunity, you look at this miracle of nature...
Good-bye, "Delicate Arch"!

We descended to the car and we were moving further on the road.

The Arches Park is very large and an one day for sightseeing was not enough.
We were tired so some view areas had to miss...

The most remote area of the park is called the "Devils Garden".
Here, the road makes a loop and goes back.
Next to the road is the camping "Devils Garden", from which the trail begins.
The length of the trail about 11 km and you can see the 7 natural arches.

We also decided to take a walk...

The rocks as if are growing out of the ground here.
Maybe, that's why this place is called "Devils Garden"?

A narrow passage was between the rocks near the dried-up tree.
I remembered the old-old movie "Mackenna's Gold"...

We were trying to squeeze between the rocks...

Just like in the movie, we were inside between the rocks...
But only the sand was not golden here...

We go out to the outside and we move on...

Very interesting arch was ahead.
The nature works wonders...

The trail meanders between rocks...

We stopped to rest again and looked to the cliffs very carefully.

But it were not the rocks, it were the stone monsters...

Apparently it's time to go back to the car...

We were leaving the park by the familiar road...

Is there anything else interesting in this area, near the town of Moab?
Oh, sure...
It is the Dead Horse Point State Park.
*Dead Horse Point State Park*

And also, the Canyonlands National Park.
*Canyonlands National Park*

Therefore, if you have the chance, you can visit these places.

Unfortunately, we were not able to see these parks, we were tired and had little free time.
Because, we moved to Colorado again...