Day 05: Arches


Today was dedicated to Arches National Park. Hundreds of arches scatter the park, carved out over millennia by the forces of nature. It was like visiting an art museum dedicated to nature's sculptures. 

We spent much of the day trying to wrap our minds around how natural forces could construct such intricate and delicate works of art. If a human were to attempt to replicate such structures, they would be challenged not only by the immense scale but also by the small details. They would never think to include the "flaws" of  the rock--the cracks and nuances in texture that are part of what make it so mesmerizing.

Featured here are some pretty sweet photos from Grey's new camera and Abby's mere iPhone. 


Balanced Rock: A 128-foot tall formation featuring a boulder of Entrada sandstone that is eroding more slowly than the mudstone pedestal on which is teeters.

Double Arch: the tallest arch in the park

Abby under Double Arch

View from Double Arch

Grey playing with the Aperture settings that he doesn't understand yet

Delicate Arch: claims to be the most photographed arch in the world, and after spending almost an hour taking it in, we can see why

Abby silhouetted by Delicate Arch feat. La Sal Mountains on the horizon

This Arch had a name but we forgot it
Allegedly there used to be two connected arches between these rocks--reminds you that despite the long time-scale, these formations are transient

Double O Arch 

Landscape Arch: the widest and most miraculous arch in the park. Part of the arch fell in the early 20th century and yet it is still standing

Partition Arch: frames a beautiful landscape view. Our favorite 'hidden gem' in the park. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 08-09: Capitol Reef

Image
After a day off, we were ready to jump back into the wilderness, which we did by backpacking a night through Capitol Reef National Park. Being one of the lesser-known parks, we didn't know quite what to expect from it, but Capitol Reef is vast in the sheer amount of options it has for day hikes and backpacking loops. Definitely not a park one can absorb in a day, but we tried.  We began with a slight detour to see the top of Chimney Rock: Not pictured: The 40-50 mph gusts that tried to knock us off the outlook Such an expansive view with virtually no evidence of humans One of Grey's favorite shots The landscape makes for a cool backdrop for a bright cactus flower We love Utah's color palette: So much red and orange, speckled with forest green bushes set against a brilliant blue sky I'd describe this landscape as "sweeping" Sweeping landscape ft. tree The photographer behind the views Layered cliffs never fail t
Read more

Day 12: Great Basin

Image
And just like that, Utah was over. Next stop Redwoods, but Great Basin National Park in Nevada was essentially on the way, so we gave ourselves an afternoon driving break. We didn't really know what to expect from Great Basin, but what we found was a hidden gem. Great Basin is home to the oldest living things in the world--Bristlecone Pine trees. Some of these trees are upwards of 4000-5000 years old.  Some numbers to put this scale into perspective: There has been life on this planet for ~2.5-3 million years. Let's go with 3. If a bristlecone pine is 3000 years old, it has lived for 0.1% of the time life has existed on earth. If you're 30 years old, you have lived for 1% of the time that tree has existed on earth.  Trying to comprehend numbers on such a scale reminded us of a fun article on the scaling of time that you can check out  here . New place, new time We climbed 4000 feet in elevation in 10 miles on our drive through the park
Read more