Here we are at the entrance to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. We decided to head up north to get a break from the brutal summer heat of the Phoenix area. Yet even at a higher elevation, the temps were over 100 degrees! Arches National Park is the most beautiful place I have been - well, okay - there is another - Monument Valley. Nevertheless, the majesty and beauty of Arches is captivating, as you will soon see. As with Monument Valley, Photographs cannot do this place justice - it has to be experienced. So turn off the TV, put down the popcorn, get yer booty off the couch and get out there!

Here's Mary Ann at one of the first overlooks in the park. This was mind-boggling in and of itself, in that the view in the distance went on for miles and miles. The scale is difficult to comprehend here; the buttes, spires and eroded sandstone fins are hundreds of feet in height! These features were created by eons of erosive processes. Much of the western portion of the United States was inundated by salty seas from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada three times over a three hundred million year period. As sand, salt and minerals were deposited across this area, they were compressed into rock, at times over a mile thick. All of this rock sat on a massive salt bed, which was extremely unstable and unable to support the sandstone, and promptly collapsed in places, thrusting massive rock structures upward.

This spectacular structure is known as "Balanced Rock" - for obvious reasons! Balance Rock was once part of a sandstone mesa that has been weathered away by water, which freezes and thaws over millions of years. The pourous sandstone absorbs the water, freezes, thaws and cracks, eventually crumbling - creating these incredible structures. There are two major types of sandstone here; the salmon colored sandstone known as "Entrada" sandstone and the lighter colored "Navajo" sandstone.

The material supporting the sandstone boulder is softer, and has eroded away, leaving the small amount which currently supports the sandstone boulder, and that will eventually erode and send the it crashing below. Again, not having any reference of scale, Balance Rock is about 200 feet tall!

Perhaps the most famous of all the features in Arches National Park is "Delicate Arch"; which is the most difficult object to get to in the park. It involves a rather strenuous hike up the side of this mountain (as you can see). This hike took us two hours (round trip), so if you do decide to go to Arches, and really want to see "Delicate Arch", be sure to bring lots of water with you, and be prepared for one hell of a hike!

Once at the top of the mountain, the surroundings take on an "other-wordly" appearance. It seems as if these sandstone features were "placed" atop the surface. Did I say this was a difficult hike? Let me reiterate; it WAS.

We're almost there; tired and very, very hot! This part of the trail was a bit harrowing; as there were pretty steep drops on the north side of the mountain. You can see, Mary Ann, ever the trooper, makes her way up the slope as I lumber behind

Delicate Arch - you betcha! Delicate Arch is what remains of a massive sandstone fin that was eroded away.

To give you a sense of scale here, you can see me next to the two bratty kids (who constantly walked in front of me as Mary Ann was taking photos) with my arms folded. On the other face of the arch is a very steep drop to the valley below. In front of the arch is a highly wind-sculpted "stadium", which made it difficult walking to the arch due to a 40 degree slope - ouch! I had to constantly balance myself and favor one foot.

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