Arch, window, bridge, hoodoo, spire, tower ...

Those descriptive names have been given to the sandstone features visible throughout Arches National Park and elsewhere in the southwest.  As a matter of fact, hoodoos abound in Bryce Canyon.

What's in a name?  Is an arch the same as a bridge?  How about a window?

To qualify as an official stone "arch," a hole must have an opening at least three feet long in any one direction.  There is no requirement for width, though; quite a lot of the arches in the park are so skinny you have to place your cheek up against the rock in order to see any light through them.

Is a window a special kind of arch?  Not really.  "Window" is just a descriptive term that is often given to rock openings high on a rock wall or fin.  Some arches are called windows if they "frame" a particularly good view of the landscape beyond.

Finally, what constitutes a bridge?  A natural bridge is formed by running water and spans either a present or former waterway. Very few natural bridges exist at Arches, but Natural Bridges Monument has three tremendous examples of this feature.  Unfortunately, we did not have time to go there as we were hobnobbing enough as it was already!

So, here we are at Arches National Park.  This was a beautiful, scenic, stunning, amazing, and spectacular National Park.  Actually they ALL are truly sights to see and beauty to behold in their own ways and this was just one more (of many) enchanted places to visit.

Water and ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park.  On a clear day it is difficult to imagine such violent forces that created this land boasting one of the world's greatest densities of natural arches. Over 2,000 cataloged arches range in size from a three-foot opening (the minimum considered for an arch) to the longest, Landscape Arch (which we did not see), measuring 306 feet base to base.

Our first stop in the park was called "Park Avenue".  What a great way to start our journey through this magnificently sculpted landscape.  This photo below was from the overlook, looking left,

From the same overlook, looking right you saw the sheer walls that reminded early visitors of a big city street.  Rising majestically, these geologic "skyscrapers" tell the story of the Entrada Sandstone.  Entrada Sandstone began forming over 150 million years ago as tidal flats, deserts and beach deposits.  Tremendous pressure from these rock layers compressed the buried sand into sandstone and cracked it.  Erosion then removed the overlying rock layers and the Entrada began to weather. Within the past two million years, erosion of the cracks in the Entrada has left vertical slabs like the ones below.  These slabs, called "fins", are the first steps in arch formation.

The rest of this blog will NOT be in the order that we drove, but will be more about the location and the features of each location.  There were so many stops and so many pictures taken with my camera and our phone cameras that have to be put together that it is just too complicated.  But this wasn't as complicated as some of our subsequent park visits where I added in photos taken with my Tablet on top of the other three electronic devices.  Holy electronic media, Batman!  It's been somewhat of a nightmare trying to get organized.  Well, enough whining for one blog ... now back to the exciting stuff.

While Arches had an actual stop for a "Balanced Rock", we saw both balanced rocks and arches at just about every Utah National Park/Monument we visited.  However, here is Arches National Park's "Balanced Rock" which you may recognize from my FB post.  This feature is 128 feet high.  The boulder height is 55' and weighs 3,500 tons.  The very top rock (boulder) is called Slick Rock Member, and the rock beneath it is called Dewey Bridge Member.  The Dewey Bridge Member weathers more quickly than the resistant rock above it and eventually the faster eroding Dewey Bridge will cause the collapse of Balanced Rock.

 

Next are some great landmarks in the park and they all have "cute" names!  This first one is called "Three Gossips".  Sitting to the right of Three Gossips is Sheep Rock. Apparently at one time there may have been an arch that stretched from the Three Gossips to Sheep Rock.

On the right side of the road from the Three Gossips were these two monoliths: Tower of Babel  (left) which was connected to The Organ (right).

.This huge monolith below is called "The Courthouse".

This next series of photos is from an area called Garden of Eden.  I personally (and Gary concurs) that it should have been called Phallic Garden J.  You'll soon see why ... but it wasn't the only area of the park that could have been mistaken symbolically! 

 

 

 

 

Today new arches are being formed and old ones destroyed. Erosion and weathering work slowly but relentlessly, creating dynamic landforms that gradually change through time.  Change sometimes occurs more dramatically.  In 1991 a rock slab 60 feet long, 11 feet wide and four feet thick fell from the underside of Landscape Arch, leaving behind an even thinner ribbon of rock.

These next photos are from "The Windows".  NOW, we're getting into real arch territory.  You were probably wondering where all the arches had gone, but they have finally arrived!

 

 

 

Do you see the "window" to the left of this arch?

Maybe this could also be called a "window?"

 

 

 

The next arch is called "Delicate Arch".  We did quite a trek to see this one and Gary didn't think it was worth it although I did.  We actually took the "easy" way.  There was another hiking trail to actually get to the arch (you can see some people in our photo below), but that hiking trail was described as follows:  "3 miles.  Difficult trail with elevation gain of 480'; no shade--take at least one quart of water per person.  Open slickrock with some exposure to heights."  That description did not fit my physique!  So, we took the 1/2 mile moderately difficult, rocky uphill route which provided this photo opportunity.

This next arch is called Sand Dune Arch.  It is named for its location in a sandy slot canyon between two fins.  The sand here was particularly fine and pinkish-red in color.

This area was called "The Fiery Furnace".  Using my Tablet, I did a panorama of the area which is the first shot below.

 

 

This is "Skyline Arch".  In 1940 a large boulder fell out of the arch roughly doubling the size of the opening.  This new arch has a span of 71 feet.

The photos below are of "Petrified Dunes".  That's right, sand dunes that are now like rock! The formation was produced when ancient sand dunes hardened into stone under the overlying subsequent material, which later eroded away.  The first photo below was taken in the afternoon on our way out of the park.  The second photo was taken in the morning on our drive into the park.  Big difference in the colors, huh?

Are you getting arched-out yet?  But wait!  There's more!  The rest of the photos are from random areas of the park displaying a number of interesting hoodoo figures.  Enjoy the show!

Here's some nice "fins" for you.

 

 

 

Can you see Gary at the base of this hoodoo?  Wanted to give you a little perspective!

 

Talk about a balanced rock!  I think this one below also fits the bill.

This is a zoom of the area in the upper left of the shot above!

 

Well, that's all folks!  That was our Arches National Park adventure.  Truly, it is someplace YOU should visit, and I think you should put it on YOUR bucket list!

Proverbs 27:3

A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them. 

Repeat Performance ... 2nd Half of the Colorado Monument

The spectrum of color that paints the Monument's landscape is in part due to the color of the minerals in the rocks as well as the kinds of lichens and chemical compounds that coat their weathered surface. Surprisingly colorful lichens are composite organisms made up of a fungi and cyanobacteria of green algae living symbiotically.  The fungi partner spreads across the rock providing a stable, moist environment for the cyanobacteria or algae partner which in turn produces nutrients through photosynthesis.

Clay minerals are responsible for a variety of the rock colors including some browns, yellows, blues and greens found in mudstones.  Clear quartz grains appear rust-red in the sandstones at the Monument due to a thin coating of iron oxide on each grain.  In some areas percolating water has dissolved the iron oxide coating leaving the formerly red sandstone pale and bleached.

Here's a video I took at Artist's Point panning the view showing you a colorful panorama.

Here are more stunning views of the sandstone walls, shapes and other assorted red rock features from Artist's Point.

 

 

I think the feature on the left is called "Squaw Fingers" ... you see it, don't you?

 

 

 

 

On our way back that afternoon we stopped again at one of our previous stops and caught the Independence Monument once again.  Otto's Route is a classic tower climb and is still followed every year by hundreds of recreational climbers. After ascending most of the route on Windgate Sandstone, the final push to the top includes a precarious backwards-leaning climb out from under the caprock of Kayenta Formation to the top of the monolith. Initiated by John Otto, the tradition of raising the American flag atop the Independence Monument on the 4th of July continues today.

The large "plateau" to the left of Independence Monument is called "The Island".  Sedimentary rocks that make up Independence Monument continue to be slowly eroded by seasonal freezing and melting and by rain, snow and wind.

Upper Ute Canyon Overlook had a really fun feature in store for us!  But before I tell you what it was, I'm going to show you some photos from that overlook on the 23-Mile Rim Rock Drive.

Notice the curved feature on the lip of this part of the canyon?  This lip and curved rock formation provided the perfect means for an amazing echo.  When Gary first shouted out to hear the echo, it was so distinct I actually thought someone else in the canyon was yelling back at him!

This feature on the sandstone wall they call the Egyptian Mummy.  Can you see its form?  It took me awhile to see it.  They really didn't point out where it was, but they did give you a photo of it ... still took me awhile to find it!

A video of this canyon wall that goes on forever with a surprise ending!

Fallen Rock Overlook is quite cool because you actually can see where a huge piece of one of the monoliths in this Monument has actually slid down and fallen off!

 A close-up of the fallen rock.

Between Upper Ute and Fallen Rock, we passed the high point of Rim Rock Road.

After Upper Ute was Ute Canyon.  Here are some of the spectacular canyon views we saw from this overlook.  

This monolith was actually at the head of two canyons--one went off to the left and the other to the right.

This is the canyon that went off to the left.  You can still see some of the fall foliage twisting along the canyon river bed and hiking path.

Here's a better view of the canyon point where you can actually see the beginnings of the two canyons.

Next on this long list of canyon overlooks is Red Canyon.  This canyon basically frames the city of Grand Junction.

We're almost near the end of our 23-mile journey!  This is Cold Shivers Point our last overlook on the road. I hope the photos were worth the journey.  

 

 

And now a fond farewell to this monumental National Monument!

Nahum 1:6-7

Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him. The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him.