Arches
Back to Arches & Canyonlands Main page.The entrance to Arches National Park is about 5 miles north of Moab. I figured that the middle of winter would be a good time to avoid the crowds that are usually there. The first sunrise shoot I planned didn't happen. I was there, but the sun was blocked by clouds most of the morning. I went on a hike up to Navajo Arch, and then drove around to a bunch of different viewpoints just to kill time. By early afternoon it looked like it would clear up for sunset so I decided to make the hike up to Delicate Arch. It was well worth it. Click on the images below to see an enlarged version. Navajo Arch is reached by about a 2 1/2 mile hike past Landscape Arch and several others. If you get there before 10:00 am and the sun is shining the alcove behind the arch is lit up with reflected light. Even with the cloud cover it makes a nice image.
This is a view of the La Sal Mountains through Delicate Arch. It's about a 1 1/2 mile hike to the arch. While I was sitting waiting for sunset another group coming up the trail scared a Desert Bighorn Ram. He came hopping up the trail surprising all of us waiting at the top, then went down over the edge to an area a couple of hundred feet below us. He stayed there eating and resting and was still there after dark when I left.
Here is Delicate Arch at sunset with the La Sal Mountains in the background. I was wishing for some of the clouds over the mountains from the night before. You can't get everything you want. It's amazing how much the warm light of sunset changes the color of the sandstone.
This is the Windows area of Arches. If you look carefully in the enlarged view you can see the South Window to the left of the frame. This was taken well after sunset. The bad thing about taking pictures this late is that you get to hike down in the dark. Make sure you have a flashlight. The Windows is where I went for my sunrise shoot the next morning.
This is Turret Arch seen through the North Window at sunrise. There was a quarter moon just above the South Window, but with the wide angle lens needed to get everything in it ended up so small you could barely see it in the frame. For all my pictures of Arches on this trip check the Image Catalog under Arches 03.
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