Day 4

Ken’s Lake Campground Moab, Utah

Today was our last day in Moab.  We wanted to go to Arches National Park.  We had noticed that there have been really long lines of cars waiting to get in.  A gentleman the other day told us to go very early in the morning.  Yesterday, Dominik and Linda went early in the morning.  They said that seeing the moon and the sunrise were amazing.  So, we set our alarm for 5:30.  We stopped for coffee and headed to the park.  There was no line to get in, but at 6:15 there was a steady stream of traffic headed up the hill.  The stars and the Milky Way were incredible.

As we drove down the park road, we could see forms, shapes, and shadows.  There was the tiniest sliver of moon.  Then, the light began to change.

This is North Window and South Window.

There was an off-road trail.  From here we could see Delicate Arch, the park icon.

We hiked to Sand Dune Arch.

And then, to Broken Arch.

Desert life.

We drove to the end of the park road.  In addition to the arches there are spires, pinnacles, balanced rocks, fins, and monoliths.

We hiked to Tunnel Arch.

And then, to Pine Tree Arch.

Arches National Park has a higher concentration of arches than anywhere else in the world.  The more than 2,000 arches were formed over the course of 100 million years of erosion by a combination of gravity, wind, water, ice, extreme temperatures, and the movement of salt deep in the ground.  300 million years ago, this area was a sea.  The water evaporated over time, leaving behind salt deposits.  In places, this bed of salt is thousands of feet thick.  This salt isn’t dense enough to support the heavy rock on top.  It liquifies and moves, causing arches to form.  In this area, it is not common to have earthquakes.  For this reason, the arches have been geologically sound for about 50,000 years.  In time, these arches will revert to the sand that shaped them, even as new arches are continuously forming. 

Native American peoples lived here for thousands of years and for them and for their ancestors these are sacred grounds.  Tim and I certainly felt like Arches is a really special place and seeing it by the brightness of the scant moon, in the early morning light gave us an entirely new perspective.

As we left the park, the was a line of 130 cars, (I counted), waiting to get in!

We took naps and enjoyed a quiet, relaxing afternoon.  Actually, I had what I call a two-boy day!!  That’s when I hear from both David and Kyle on the same day…it always makes my heart happy!

This evening we headed to town for dinner.  We had Chinese food at the Moab Food Truck Court.