Arches National Park

 On the 29th of June 2011 we visited Arches National Park in southeastern Utah.  When we arrived, it had been raining for a short time.  The air was fresh and the temperature was a very pleasant 72 degrees.

The sheer size of the rock formations is unimaginable unless you are actually there.  The rocks in this picture are over a mile away.  Our guide indicated that they are taller than a 20 story office building.

 One of the names for this formation is "Pilgrim Family."  If you look at it just right, it does look like a woman on the left holding a baby, while the man on the right is carrying a girl on his right arm and a smaller child on his left.

Even though the rock formations appear to be absent of vegetation, the desert floor abounds with plants and wild life.
The green of Pinyon and Juniper trees are a striking contrast to the red of the sand stone rock formations and the desert floor.
We were surprised to see that wild flowers were still abundant.

Our guide stated that Native Americans folklore indicates that the two rock formations, known as Guardians, are protecting the balanced rock.  Could be, who knows...

This is a view of one of the Guardians from the other side.  Geologists say that the band of white was caused by being submerged by an inland sea thousands of years ago.

The arch on the right is said to be thousands of years old.  In another two or three thousand years, the one on the right may also be all the way through the rock.

This rock formation, although it had another name, reminded me of an Egyptian Pharaoh standing at a podium giving a speech.


Maybe I watch too much of the National Geographic programming on TV.

Although we did not walk the 1.6 mile trek to the Natural Arch that is on the Utah license plates, we saw several other arches from the safety of our vehicle and the observation points that were just as awe inspiring as is this one.