July 26 and on the road again. Ryan and I headed south to Arches National Park, Utah. 310 sq km of eroded sandstone, plain, and scrub land. I found it difficult to imagine the sea bed with a surface some tens of meters above the current grade, succumbing slowly to the natural forces of erosion over the eons. Red and greed were the dominant colours across the landscape, contrasting with the blue, white and purple of the sky.
We were not dry the entire trip. This picture was taken the evening we arrived in Moab.
Petrified sand dunes, running off into the distance.
The narrow arch on the left was easily 1-2km away. A valley separated Ryan from the structure.
A crop makes people just visible at the foot of the arch.
Ryan could not help testing one of the many crevices.
I could not help but lie under the arch - from this view it looked like some old bone. A careful inspection of the crack shows loose boulders temporarily caught by the main structure. I could imagine these falling on some unsuspecting visitor.
Pinyon pine and Junipers spotted the terrain, but generally were found in the gullies and canyons. The Utah Juniper trees were the largest junipers I had seen. Their trunks appeared to be wizen, I would not have believed the green needles were being fed from them.
Although I did not get pictures, lizards could be seen running in the shade. We did not see mammals, but did see cat foot prints. Not sure which type, but I understand cougars live in the park.
One of the canyons.
Aqua particles were grouped in a number of areas as can be seen in this photo. Oxidized copper?
Devils play ground
The expanse, beautiful yet inhospitable.
Forces of erosion, both water and wind, were readily evident.
This structure was the remnant of a fallen salt dome.
Each layer tells a different geological story.
Balanced rock.
Ryan
Parting shot
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