Day 22- Arches National Park

Windows Arch

This park is just awe inspiring!  We took over 50 pictures today and NONE of them do the real thing justice. Everywhere we looked the view was amazing.  We started the day by stopping at the visitor center and getting the assignments for the junior ranger badges.  There we were able to see an introductory movie about Arches park called, Among the Red Rocks.  The entire park actually sits on a salt bed which used to be under water.  It was referred to as an ancient saltwater ocean in the movie.  Once the waters receded, the mineral deposits, the salt, and the limestone mixed to create weakened areas of rock.  Through the process of weatherization the rock at the bottom of these cliffs gave way creating all kinds of arches in the park.  There are over 2000 natural arches in the park. This deterioration process also created "fins" which are huge walls of rock that are relatively "skinny"like the fin of a fish.  The other common site in this park were all of the balancing rocks.  These rocks appear to be barely balancing on top of these massive cliffs. But, they have been there thousands of years withstanding all kinds of weather.

Double Arch

We did a fair amount of hiking today.  We went to the upper level view of the "delicate arch" which is the oldest known arch in the park.  It is longer than a football field and approximately 6 feet thick.  It hasn't always been this "thin" which is what makes it so delicate. Len and I also hiked up to see "The Windows" which are two arches next to one another. The entire landscape is awesome.

Delicate Arch.  Notice how small all of the people seem!  This arch is huge!

Dunc & Doug on a high rock!

I can't believe Dunc is so close to the edge!  I love the photo but it is a bit nerve wracking!

We came back to the campground during the peak "heat" and all rested.  I think we all took naps except for Douglas!  This afternoon we went out exploring again.  This time we did a lot of climbing.  Duncan and Douglas are both complete dare devils when it comes to climbing.  I spent a lot of time today saying," That's far enough.  Come back here. You're too close to the edge."  At one point all six of us climbed up to a spot called the Garden of Eden which is filled with spires of rocks, arches, fins and steep cliffs.  The kids were thrilled that both Grammie & Bampie made the climb.  I was too! We got so caught up with climbing and exploring that time got away from us. Before we knew it, it was 6:10 pm! We had to rush back to the campground and grab warm jackets because we had 7:15 reservations for a dinner and lightshow cruise down the Colorado River scheduled. We got there right on time and had a great, home cooked meal of BBQ beef, pork, chicken with "cowpoke" potatoes, beans, rolls and salad.  Just as the sun was setting we all boarded the boat which floated a short distance but stayed within the canyon walls for over an hour.  There were lights that matched the music. The narrator of the program shared different stories and legends of how the Arches park came to be.  They talked of the Ut Indian tribe from which Utah got it's name. We arrived back "home" at around 10:45 and here I sit blogging and uploading photos at midnight!  Not sure if I'll get it all done tonight.  Each day is so filled with exciting experiences and little details that I feel compelled to get it all down on paper before it slips my mind and I am on to another adventure!
Tomorrow morning we'll get the kids sworn in for another Jr. ranger  badge and let them climb the huge sand dune again.  Then we leave the campground and head towards the Grand Canyon.  We are thinking Lake Powell might be a good destination but we'll see!