I went to Arches National Park again! I went about 15 years ago, and this is the first time I’ve been back since! It was so different this time around. I went in January and the park was covered in a light dusting of snow, and there was absolutely no one there compared to how it was in the summer. I only had a couple of hours to explore the park, because I had to keep driving through to Colorado. Although it was extremely overcast, and minus the fact that it was only 23 degrees, I think the winter season is my new favorite time to visit parks! Mostly because of the lack of people. =]
Arches is by far on my list of top 5 favorite National Parks. The barren desert wasteland filled with these alluring phenomenons built from this naturalistic process of erosion are quite the sight to see. You could feel the earths love running through it. To truly feel not just the emotion of love, but to become the vibration of it. That’s what was special. I could have wandered there for hours as time stood still, letting my soul come to peace with whatever the Universe had in store for me. It was as if the very second I felt this living thought, my emotions shifted and my energy changed. I became realigned with the Universe. Just one day here was worth more than all the kingdoms in the world.
Taking a day to escape the daily confines of life, and adventuring out to no where Utah was definitely what my soul needed. The entire park was so otherworldly, it really makes you question what else is out there. You have this urge to keep exploring, to keep finding new things. Then when you finally find yourself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that you were made for another world.
The entire park sits on an underground salt bed, which is the main reason of the formations of these arches, spires, and balanced rocks. In some areas the salt bed is thousands of feet thick, and was deposited 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and then evaporated. After years of layered sediments and deposits, the weight of this cover caused the salt beds below to liquefy and thrust up layers of rock into salt domes. The wind and rain caused erosion on these rocks, and these are the famous arches that we now see today. Right as you enter the park, you are completely engulfed in these giant red rocks along all sides of you. It’s quite the entrance.
Delicate Arch
Delicate Arch was our first priority! Delicate Arch is the largest freestanding arch in the park. We took the 3 mile Delicate Arch Trail to be able to get right in the action. Once we got about 100 yards from the end, the trail goes along a steep cliff face, and it was completely covered in ice. People were sliding all over. Holding onto the rock wall hanging on for dear life, crawling on their hands and knees just to avoid slipping off the cliff side. It was insane to witness, you didn’t dare remove your hands from the side wall. But once you’re up there and underneath that giant arch, it’s such a beauty seeing the light hit that huge red rock in the afternoon sun.
If you don’t feel like hiking the 3 miles, there is a viewing point you can go to instead. It’s called Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint and Upper Viewpoint, where you can see the arch from one mile away. The main trail will take you back through Wolfe Ranch, where you can see earlier human habitation, and links to the Petroglyph trail.
Balanced Rock
Balanced Rock is one of the most iconic features of the park standing at 128 feet tall. It’s located on the Balanced Rock Trail, which is a nice leisurely 0.3 mile stroll. Balanced Rock won’t always be able to deceptively defy gravity. Eventually with erosion it will come tumbling down as the wind shapes the landscape.
