Arches National Park

We went to pick up my daughter who was in New Mexico. Instead of taking the freeway all the way down and all the way back, we decided to take the long way down and visit some of the great places along the way.

We left home around 8:30 a.m. and by early afternoon we were at Arches National Park. I had been here several times before in my youth, and Mrs. viii and I had visited here one time together with some friends before we were married.

This was the first time for any of our children. They thought that it was a wonderful place. There are plenty of interesting rock formations and wildlife to see. There are hikes of varying levels of difficulty, all of which take you to some fantastice scenery.

The family loved our little adventure at Arches.

When I was a teenager, I watched a documentary on television about Arches National Park. I have wanted to go since! It looks so beautiful, like nothing else on the planet.

it’s an other-worldly experience.

My favorite National Park.

from inside the window arches the wind is so strong it can knock you over. a feirce reminder of earths power over man.

Though Arches is beautiful 365/24/7, it comes alive at sunrise and sunset. The western sun so eloquently shows off all of the subtleties of Arches’ grandeur and beauty.

Although the hike to Delicate Arch is a little longer than others in the park, it is nowhere near as crowded, and well worth it! The other hike that I would recommend is the one to Landscape Arch. The Windows area was very crowded when we went so we didn’t spend much time there.

When I was young my Dad (R7?) used to lead field trips through the various National Parks in Southern Utah and surrounding areas. I can remember when I was in elementary school looking forward to the trips. I thought that it was so cool how he would take me along with him.

Arches was always one of my favorites. I loved the red rock and the delicately carved features. My favorite feature in the park was always Double Arch. I liked it because it was a fairly easy hike and it usually felt cool to sit on the sandstone in the shade.

I have been wanting to take R9 down here. I think that he would like it too.

Definitely worth seeing. Make sure to take your camera! The hike to Delicate Arch is SO worth it! You’ll be rewarded in the end, especially if you go during the morning sunrise or evening sunset. Simply Gorgeous! The Gossips is one of my favorite formations as well.

We were planning on spending part of the day at Arches and then heading over to Canyonlands, but we never made it out of Arches. The variety and number of arches was amazing and it was simply gorgeous. It was a bit stormy and cool in the earlier part of the day (I went in March 2007) but it cleared and warmed up as the day went on. The place seemed prehistoric and I would definitely recommend it.