#11 Arches National Park 7-25-08

We got up early because we knew it was going to be very hot today. We also planned on doing some hiking. We knew to see some of the arches we would have to hike to the sites. So off we go, finally we are seeing the National Parks we came to see.

This is the first trail we went on. We walked this trail of 1.3 miles to see our biggest arch.

Landscape Arch. The longest arch in the park. It is really spectacular.

What a view! The arch is just perfect. We only had to hike a few hundred feet to see this arch. It was behind the ampitheater that the rangers give their talks. It's in the campground in the park. We were the only people here, which is amazing because we seem to be with the entire population of Europe who are touring the USA!

Sandy Dunes Arch. We met a very nice American family from the state of Washington. They took our picture and we took theirs. You walk through deep sand and right between some of the rock formations that are called fins. It was only .3 of a mile into the arch and it was really pretty.

This is broken arch. It was a long, hot hike into this arch. We walked across a "desert" and then to the rock formation and the arch. Under the arch we sat and cooled off a little along with the family from Washington. It was a nice stop for us. Then we had to walk back! Good thing we brought lots of water for Frank and iced tea for Dixie.

Now how long is that rock going to stay balanced on top? That is quite a sight to behold as you are driving on the road. If you look hard in the background on the other rocks there is another rock balanced there. Amazing formations!

As we drove around a corner--there was a big horn sheep. This was Frank's first sighting of a big horn. We stopped in the middle of the road and I tried to get some pictures before she ran away. This is after she crossed the road.

She is running away, but just outside of the picture is a second big horn sheep that ran faster than I could snap pictures. This was the perfect "end" for our trip to Arches National Park.

After hiking what felt like miles and miles and the temperature hoovering around 100 degrees, we were ready to go home and hit the showers. We were a couple of tired tourists!