Written by Kim
We left Beaver and drove about 4 hours with stops to Moab. We had a little scare last night at dinner while we were planning for our trip to Arches when we realized we hadn’t reserved our timed entry ticket for the park and all the spots were sold out. Luckily, they release tickets at 7 pm the night before and they release quite a few tickets so we chose a 1 pm entry knowing we had a long drive. There was a bit of a backup at the ticket booth but were in the park shortly after 1. It was really hot around 83 with literally no shade or breeze so we drank lots of water. Luckily the elevation wasn’t as high as Bryce so hiking didn’t take my Brest away.
Arches National Park is outside Moab in Utah. The park contains more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches. It also contains a variety of other unique geological resources and formations. The national park lies above an underground evaporite layer or salt bed, which is the main cause of the formation of the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths in the area. The park is 77,000 acres. It’s very cool with unique rock formations but not quite as pretty as Bryce
Spanish missionaries encountered Ute and Paiute tribes in the area when they first came through in 1775, but the first to attempt settlement in the area were the Mormons. The name Utah derives from the name of the Ute tribe, meaning ‘people of the mountains’
Mesas, buttes, and plateaus – mesa was once a plain until it eroded. Buttes are what’s left of mesas after erosion are shorter and wider sometimes with a point. Plateaus are created by shifting plates. We’re driving on the plateau.
Arches, bridges and windows – Fins are pointy rock structures created by erosion. Arches form within rock fins at points of intense fracturing caused by horizontal and vertical erosion. Windows are the beginning of an arch where the bottom hasn’t yet eroded. We took a nice hike in the area by the windows. The park was pretty crowded which we didn’t like but found a trail called primitive trail that was a little more rugged and very quiet. I’m so lucky to have a very patient and encouraging hubby to help me navigate. There was one part that was a bit steep rock and I had to get on my butt and scouch down. Luckily no one was around.
Two of the most popular attractions are Delicate arch and balanced rock. There is a long hike that goes up close to delicate arch but it has a 600 foot ascent which I knew would be too much for me. Plus it was a 6 mile round trip. We chose to take a shorter hike with about a 200 foot ascent. It was pretty steep but worth the hike. There a family where 2 siblings were traveling with their spouses and with 6 kids 4 and under. Reminded us of our grands. The little 3 year old girl kept stopping saying she would just wait halfway and wanted to be carried but all of the adults were carrying babies or littler ones so we made a game to see if she could beat me up. It worked she made it all the way (and so did I). The view was worth it.
Balanced rock was neat. It looks like the rock is balanced on a fin but it’s all one rock formation.
We had dinner at Moab Brewery (another city another brewery). We met a couple from NY who were traveling to see the entire 48 states in a motorhome over 3 months. They are getting less than 10 miles to the gallon and are limited to where they can drive due to size of camper so I think we chose a better way for us. Today we are headed to Canyonland. We read that the views are gorgeous at sunrise. We will get there a bit after sunrise because we need to get something to eat first and nothing is open till 6. Until then.
