December 2013

Arches National Park

One of the many natural wonders of the USA.

We took a day off skiing and drove to Arches National Park.  We left pretty early and was there before lunchtime.  It is simply unbelievable.  Words or photos can not do justice to describe its beauty - but in any case we tried...

Thank you Teddy!!   This has become my mantra. 

Each time we visit a National Park that is all I can say.  Thank you Teddy!  Thank you Theodore Roosevelt for starting the national parks system.  The beauty of these parks make me so emotional it is hard to explain...

Had it not been for him and later Woodrow Wilson these beautiful areas would have been destroyed by greed of men!!

We spent the whole day in the park.  We drove from end to end and in between took little walks and hiked up to the 'Delicate Arch'.

When we left Sundance it was about 6° F and it hit 10° F at around 10.

Our rental had confused its a.m. and p.m.

We left Mount Timponogos behind and drove south-east to Arches NP

We drove through a terrain that at times resembles the lunar landscape

We witnessed Utah traffic jam

and arrived at Arches National Park

The park has several sections and we stopped and took pictures at all of them.  Below are some samplings

Balanced Rock

Queen Nefertiti

Park Avenue

Courthouse Towers

Delicate Arch

An uphill hike of 1.5 miles, in snow and ice, took us about 2 hours to get up to the star of the the park. The crampons that Stephan brought along were very helpful.  While I decided to sit and enjoy the view Stephan hiked down and crossed it for our records!

Hiking back from Delicate Arch

Windows Section

Fiery Furnace from a distance

The Penguins near the south entrance

Devil's Garden

Enchanted, my cameras kept clicking until we left the park.  Here is a random collage of more pictures

As we don't know what the one below is called I decided to call it 'the boobs"

Petroglyphs in the park.

When we left the park to drive back to Sundance it was already getting dark and a full moon was rising.  Another enchanting sight!

Back to Sundance

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