In this second of a 3-part Arches National Park series, we’re focusing on Double Arch, North Window, and Delicate Arch. Then, we’ll learn how the magnificent arch formations actually occur! In case you missed it, here’s the first part of the series: Arches National Park – Park Avenue, Tower of Babel, Balanced Rock.
Double Arch
Double Arch was my favorite of the arches that we visited during this whirlwind trip. It’s right across from the Windows Section of the park and is a quick walk from the parking lot. Since it was really overcast that day (and ridiculously hot – over 100°F!), a lot of the photos turned out a bit muted. To compensate, I shot with +1.0EV and brought out the shadows in post. I wanted the black on portions of the rock to come through. Here’s the first shot of Double Arch:
After walking up to the arches, I shot the following photo. Three things that I like about this photo are the dark vertical striations in the rock, the people in the foreground for scale, and the space between the arches. It reminds me of a claw reaching into the rocks on the right!
North Window
Although there are actually three arches on Windows Trails (North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch), we didn’t have time to hike the trail. Next time! Here is a shot of North Window (on the right) from the trailhead:
And a closer shot at the point we decided to turn back:
Delicate Arch
One of my regrets on this trip was not hiking the Delicate Arch trail. There are so many beautiful and inspiring pictures of it up close, especially at night with the Milky Way. Since we had to drive back to Salt Lake City for my conference, and the sun didn’t set until past 10pm, and we still had Canyonlands National Park to visit, we decided to slate the hike for another trip. Here’s the best shot I could get of Delicate Arch from the viewpoint:
It doesn’t do it justice. Even at 40mm, I had to crop the photo to try and emphasize Delicate Arch a bit more. Can’t wait to go back and get much better shots!
Arch Formations
In my last post, we learned a bit of history of Arches National Park. For this post, I decided to give a quick overview of arch formations. How do these magnificent arches occur? On what timescale? Throughout the park, there are signs that explain it. Here’s a summary:
The rocks are made of Entrada Sandstone, deposited in the area as sand over 150 million years ago. Over time, new layers buried and compacted the sandstone and hardened it into rock. Wind and rain shaped the landscape, and as the sandstone morphed, fractures appeared which served as guides for future rock formations. The weathering caused the fractures to widen into parallel rock walls, and rainwater continued eroding the structures. This, combined with snowy winters and freezing events, caused the sandstone to crack and crumble. In some areas, enough of the sandstone fell away to cause openings in the landscape. These openings are what we see as arches today!
The landscape is continuing to morph over time, and eventually the arches will collapse. As recently as August 4th, 2008, thousands of tons of sandstone that made up Wall Arch fell, causing thunderous rumbles to be heard and felt throughout the park. I can’t imagine camping there when this happened – it must have been quite the experience!