I can pretty well guarantee that you will see Double Arch on any trip to Arches National Park. It’s just off the road… and impressive.
“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself.” Edward Abby from his book about Arches NP, “Desert Solitaire.”
Arches is renowned for its arches, as it should be, given its name. They come in all shapes and sizes ranging from three feet across to 306 feet. I noted in my first post that there are some 2,000 of them at the park. Forces of erosion, including water, ice and wind, break out chunks of rocks from softer sandstone beneath harder layers above and eventually work through fins. New arches are constantly being created while older ones fall.
A new arch in the process of being born at Arches National Park.
Several arches are located along the road and are easily reached by short hikes. Others require longer hikes and more work. When Peggy and I were at Arches last time, we were rushing through on our way to our Grand Canyon raft trip. We could hardly begin to do the arches justice, but we did photograph three that I will share with you today: Delicate Arch, Skyline Arch, and Double Arch.
While Peggy and I didn’t have time to visit Delicate Arch, we were able to snap its photo from a distance. It is the most famous arch in the park and possibly in the world.
Skyline Arch is also easily seen from the road.
Here it is with a tree to help set it off.
A close up of the arch.
People in the lower right hand corner provide perspective on the size of Double Arch.
Double Arch seen from a distance.
One of the arches of Double Arch up close.
And closer.
I was up climbing around on the Double Arch to get photos when Peggy snapped my picture, which will serve as the last of this post.
NEXT POST: We will explore the surrounding country, petroglyphs and settler history.
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27 thoughts on “The Arches of Arches…. Arches National Park: Part 3”
Bradley T. McKeachnie
Curt, you use polarizing filters? Nice job on the lighting! Great Basin National Park outside of Ely and Lehman caves, both in Eastern Nevada. Thanks for sharing
Curt Mekemson
Nature does a pretty good job on her own in Arches with glorious colors late in the afternoon. I do some processing but always try to leave my photos close to what my eye saw. Peggy and I have been to Great Basin National Park a couple of times. Once it was still spring with lots of snow about. Quite beautiful. –Curt
Bradley T. McKeachnie
Nice Job. With all the strife and grief we seem to swim in, it is nice to read positive things on your blogs.
Curt Mekemson
These are tough times, Bradley, as tough as I have seen in my life. Nature has always provided an element of balance for me, an escape as well as a calling. Thank you. –Curt
Andrew Petcher
Excellent pictures, you look like Sundance Kid in that last one!
Curt Mekemson
Thanks, Andrew. The Sundance Kid, eh. Well, my Burning Man name is Outlaw. 🙂 –Curt
Bradley T. McKeachnie
You are so right Curt. God bless you and Peggy for making us all grin and what a great group of followers you have. Damn lucky my friend to be surrounded by people that you would invite into your life!
Bradley Thomas
gerard oosterman
Arches are rather comforting. It is nice that it forms a loop whereby it reaches up and then comes down to earth again. It has proven itself in architecture. Where would we be without arches?
Curt Mekemson
Good point, Gerard. Early Greeks and Romans discovered bot the beauty and the stability of arches. –Curt
Blogging_with_Bojana
Beautiful. Nature is so perfect. No wonder artists have been seeking inspiration in it for centuries.
Curt Mekemson
Nature is where I have always gone for inspiration, and peace. Almost impossible to beat. Thanks. –Curt
Blogging_with_Bojana
You’re spot-on.
Mel & Suan
Yes we spent time in Arches NP too but not enough!
Curt Mekemson
I am not sure there is any such thing as enough for a place like Arches. 🙂 –Curt
Anne Clare
These are absolutely gorgeous. Someday…
Alison and Don
Amazing landscape, fabulous photographs!
Alison
Curt Mekemson
Thanks, Alison. 🙂
Silvia Maggioni
Hello Curt! I’m Silvia form Italy and I have a blog too, lostinfood.it. I was there in 2016 and what to say, really really impressive and unique. On of the best Park I visited in US. And watching your pictures it made me wanna to come back!
Curt Mekemson
Hello Silvia from Italy. Arches is one of those places that lands in your memory banks and is there forever. Glad you are enjoying the photos. –Curt
Mél@nie
SPLENDID!!! ❤ we visited the Arches National Park several years ago and we loved it… 🙂
Curt Mekemson
Thanks, Melanie. Mother nature being grand!
lexklein
Although it’s less dramatic, I really liked seeing the arch in the process of forming. Arches is one of the few Utah parks we have not seen, and my husband is rarin’ to go. I’m not a red rock or desert lover, but even I have to a admit these parks are pretty impressive!
Curt Mekemson
Pack up your bags and husband, Lexi! 🙂 –Curt
Browsing the Atlas
Oh my gosh, these pictures are beautiful! I had no idea of all the arch formations there. We have a few arches/bridges at parks in Ohio and Kentucky, but it’s nothing like this at all.
Curt Mekemson
I think Arches National Park exists in a world of its own when it comes to producing arches. 🙂 Thanks, Juliann. –Curt
Oh, the Places We See
We really did hit Double Arch at the right time — late afternoon. Right when the ranger said we should be there. And we took lots of pictures rather than climb up the steep rocks. I guess you can enjoy Double Arch in a variety of ways. We also saw Delicate Arch from the same spot that you did. One man helped me twist onto my camera his long, heavy telephoto lens and oh, my. What a difference a lens makes! But Arches is all good — no matter how far or how high you hike. And no matter which path. Always something pretty to see.
Curt Mekemson
I remember your photos of Double Arch, Rusha. It was part of my inspiration to go back and do a series on Arches. –Curt