Boots on the Arches

As most of us know from National Geographic and Time-LIFE coffee table books, the bulk of Utah is ancient rock weathered into arches and canyons. Eroded rock explored as caverns and corridors and mesas. Rock transformed by wind and water into needles and dollops of frosting.

The stand-by must-sees of Arches National Park, like the highlights of so many national parks, have been photographed to death by far better photographers than I with my little Pocket PC, Perry. Balanced Rock. Courthouse Towers. Windows Arches. Delicate Arch (Utah’s unofficial state image). This park is both popular and very, very crowded at these and other famous pullouts.

So today I went to the northmost end of the area, Devil’s Garden, where fewer people go because you have to really do some hiking to get to the arches in this area. And even I didn’t make it to the farthest ones.

The trail itself was the fun part of this hike. Finding and following stone cairns (small rock piles) to keep on track. Walking the top of a high rock fin (the ridgeline of those “walls” that stack next to each other like pages in a book). Crawling into an arch hole at Double O to discover the most amazing cooling breeze to make the hot trek worthwhile.

This park is intimate because you can walk around and through most of the arches. It’s also a bit distancing because of the many miles you must drive to get to each area. But, really, at the end of the day, it’s all about a bunch of people flocking to see a bunch of holes in a bunch of rocks. And I was right in line with them.

Above: Pine Tree Arch; I have no idea why it's called that, except that there was a 6' pine tree by its sign.

I dubbed this one The Prow.

Clamshells? Whipped cream? Your call.

Everywhere a photo op!

A surprisingly photo-friendly lizard.

A fin between two walls (I nearly walked off the end of this one...oops, not on trail!).

Partition Arch.

Rock fin ahead (note tiny people on top).

On trail.

This one's ready for Wile E. Coyote to send over the cliff.

Double O Arch.

A zippy visitor at Double O.

Curious chipmunk.

Not on trail, but a beautiful detour.

View from a fin.

A tree grows through it.

March of the Elephants (they really do look like petrified pachyderms).

The infamous Three Gossips.

Tomorrow to Canyonlands NP.