home ALBUM 10) Saturday 25 July 2009

Castle Valley (Moab) - ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UT

a) SaturdayMorning 25-July, Waking Up In Bed+Breakfast Castle Valley Inn (Staying There For 2 Nights).JPG
b) Located In The Small Town of Castle Valley.JPG
c) Castle Valley Inn Has A Wildlife Sanctuary of Sorts (Inclusive Human Visitors aka Guests ;-).JPG
d) Beautiful Setting, Surrounded By Peaceful Landscape and BreathTaking Redrock+Mountain Silhouettes.JPG
e) The Only Problem (For Us) - The Typical Bed+Breakfast Uptightness (+LadyHost Was Cranky, Though ManHost Sweet).JPG
f) (MOVIE)Suppose We Are Just Not The Bed+Breakfast Sort of People ~ Just Leave Us Alone ;-).jpg
g) On Our Way To Arches National Park ~ Driving The Colorado River Canyon (Route 128), Scenic Byway.JPG
h) Notice The People Rafting and Kayaking in the Colorado River.JPG
i) Between Moab+Castle Valley, Colorado River (+ Indirectly Route 128) Form Southern Boundary of Arches Natl Park.JPG
j) From Both Sides The Highway Offers Nice RockFormation Views (No Park Access Along the Highway Btw).JPG
k) First A Visit Into Moab - Buying Few Errands (Personal Items, Memory Stick and .... Of Course Plenty of Water! ;-).JPG
l) Driving Into the Park ~ Ready To Explore The Arches! (After Paying Entrance Fee).JPG
m) Welcome to Arches National Park! Park Avenue (Btw, We Skipped The Visitor Center This Time).JPG
n) We Followed the Advice (From ManHost at the Inn) To Go Straight To Devils Garden (N.) To Avoid The Tourism Crowd.JPG
o) (MOVIE)Passing By Balanced Rock and .... ;-).jpg
p) The Natl Park Lies Atop An Underground Salt Bed Or Evaporite Layer (Sedimentary Deposit - Evaporation of Seawater).JPG
q) Main Cause of Formation of The Arches, Spires, Balanced rocks, Sandstone Fins+Eroded Monoliths In The Area.JPG
r) Will Explain It All More In Detail Little Later - For Now, Lets Continue Walking the Devils Garden ~ Wow, Its Hot Here!.JPG
s) Walking the Devils Garden Trail In The Rays Of A Very Hot Sun (Ending Up Only As Far To Landscape Arch+Return).jpg
t) Landscape Arch is The Longest Arch in Arches National Park, Measuring 306 Ft From Base to Base.JPG
u) Facing The Other Side, To the Right (North-East) ~ Primitive Trail.JPG
v) Facing To The Left Again (North-West) ~ Landscape Arch Is Still There ;-).JPG
w) In Sept 1991, Visitors Resting Under Landscape Arch Noticed Loud Cracking+Popping Noises Overhead.JPG
x) Arches And Their Timeless Struggle With Gravity .... So Be Aware!.JPG
y) Wall Arch, Located A Little Further Along the Trail Collapsed Sometime During the Night of August 4, 2008.JPG
z) (InternetPic)An Arch Collapsed In Our LifeTime (Last Year!!) - In Human Terms Its Rare To Observe Such Dramatic Changes.JPG
za) All Arches Are But Temporary Features and All Will Eventually Succumb To The Forces Of Gravity+Erosion.JPG
zb) Candy Analogy - It Slowly Dissolves In Your Mouth But Will Usually Break Up Into Pieces Before Its Completely Gone.JPG
zc) Speaking of ... We Dont Carry Enough Water To Continue The Trail - We Better Return!.JPG
zd) Walking Back The Trail To The Car (Less Than A Mile).JPG
ze) Facing East ~ Fortunately By Now Some Nice Shade Has Set In.JPG
zf) That Might Be A Mine Area In the (Far) Distance.JPG
zg) Fossil Fuel Extraction+Uranium Mining In Areas Surrounding the National Park Service Lands on the Colorado Plateau.JPG
zh) Beginning About 300 Million Years Ago (Paleontology) A Series Of Oceans Came+Went In This Area.JPG
zi) Paleogeography of the Colorado Plateau - Middle Pennsylvanian (Paleozoic Era) - About 300 Million Yrs Ago.jpg
zj) As The Seas Evaporated, They Left Salt Beds That Were 5000 Ft Thick In Some Places.JPG
zk) Arches National Park Lies Atop An Underground Salt Bed Called the Paradox Formation.JPG
zl) The Paradox Formation Is Responsible For the Arches, Spires, Balanced Rocks, Fins+Eroded Monoliths Common Throughout the Park.jpg
zm) Over Millions Of Yrs, The Salt Bed Covered Residue of Floods+Winds As Oceans Returned+Evaporated Again+Again.JPG
zn) Much Of The Debris Was Compressed As Rock, At One Time Possibly A Mile Thick.JPG
zo) Little Lizzard Will Further Explain The Story Geologists Tell  ;-) ... .JPG
zp) Salt Under Pressure Is Unstable + Faults Deep In the Earth Made The Surface Even More Unstable + The Magic of Erosion.JPG
zq) The Major Rock Formations Visible In Park Today - Entrada Sandstone(SalmonColored)+Navajo Sandstone(TanColored).JPG
zr) And Thats the Geologic Story of Arches National Park - Probably ... (Evidence is Largely Circumstancial).JPG
zs) Will This Region Someday Return To Sea Level - What Kind of Bizarre Creatures+EcoSystems Might Arise In the Future.JPG
zt) MountainLions, Todays Bizarre Creatures ;-) ... Back At TrailHeadParking, Facilitating Also Drinking Water! (WaterWell).JPG
zu) Where Is Our Car... Its Too Damned Hot Outhere! ;-).JPG
zv) From Devils Garden Trailhead Driving Down South In A Slow Pace ~ Enjoying the View ...JPG
zw) Fiery Furnace (So Named Because It Glows In The Setting Sun), .JPG
zx) Nice Quiet Here (When Car Engine Turned Off ;-).JPG
zy) Heading Towards Fiery Furnace Viewpoint.JPG
zz) Salt Valley Overlook.JPG
zza) Salt Valley Overlook, Zoomed In.JPG
zzb) Fiery Furnace + Salt Valley Area.JPG
zzc) Fiery Furnace + Salt Valley Area (Zoomed In).JPG
zzd) Improbable As It Now Seems, During Its Geologic Past This Area Was Repeatedly Covered By Salty Sea Water.JPG
zze) Let Me Explain This Again ;-).JPG
zzf) Step 1) Sediments Buried the Salt, Gravity Forcing It To Flow, Fault Bulging It Upward And Forming A Salt Dome.JPG
zzg) Step 2) Overlying Rock Cracked, Water Seeped Into Salt Layer Creating Huge Open Spaces - Making of Salt Valley.JPG
zzh) Step 3) Rocks Along The Edge Stretched+Cracked In Long Lines - Erosion Creating Scenic Backdrop of Salt Valley.JPG
zzi) And Thats the Compact Geological Version ~ Pretty Cool huh ;-).JPG
zzj) Driving Further South - Passing By Balanced Rock.JPG
zzk) We Missed the TurnOff For The Delicate Arch Area ~ Nevermind, Next We Explored the Windows Section Area.JPG
zzl) (MOVIE)The Arches National Park Is Full Of Surprises ;-).jpg
zzm) Parade of Elephants - The Windows Section.JPG
zzn) Look At That! ... Some Brave People Climbing the Sensual Rock.JPG
zzo) A Couple ~ How Voluptuous! ;-).JPG
zzp) Looking Direction South - Petrified Dunes.JPG
zzq) Leaving the Parade of Elephants Behind Us and Moving On.JPG
zzr) Some Impressive RockFormations Along The Roads Of The Windows Section.JPG
zzs) Skyline Arch.JPG
zzt) The Road System in Arches Passes Many Outstanding Natural Features.JPG
zzu) Now Isn't That Something ~ Looks Like One Of Those Clay Cartoons! ;-).JPG
zzv) (MOVIE)Enjoying The View.jpg
zzw) The SunRays After A RainCell Shows Its Colorful Beauty.JPG
zzx) Back At Balanced Rock.JPG
zzy) Getting A Closer Look At It Now This Time.JPG
zzz) Balanced Rock Showing Proudly Its Magical Geological Stunt.JPG
zzza) Crooked Rock Face Next To Balanced Rock Seems To Be A Little Jealous ;-).JPG
zzzb) Further Down South The Park (Nearby Entrance) - The Courthouse Towers.JPG
zzzc) The Forces Of Nature Have Acted In True Concert To Create The Landscapes of Arches National Park.JPG
zzzd) Throughout The Park, Rock Layers Reveal Millions Of Years Of Deposition, Erosion and Other Geologic Events.JPG
zzze) Arches Is Located In A High Desert, With Elevations Ranging From 4085 to 5653 Ft Above Sea Level.JPG
zzzf) On April 14, 1929 President Herbert Hoover Signed Legislation Creating Arches National Monument.JPG
zzzg) On November 12, 1971 Congress Changed The Status of Arches To A National Park.JPG
zzzh) Baby Arch (Left) and Sheep Rock (Right).JPG
zzzi) Like Living Things, Arches Have Life Cycles Too - They Form, Grow, Mature and ... Fall.JPG
zzzj) Starting As Small Holes in Rock Faces, They Enlarge and Eventually Collapse From Wathering+Erosion.JPG
zzzk) We Cant Be Certain But Nearby Are Clues That An Arch Once Connected The Sheep To The Rock Mass It Faces.JPG
zzzl) Sheep All By Its Own Now.JPG
zzzm) Walk Like An Egyptian ;-).JPG
zzzn) La Sal Mountains Viewpoint.JPG
zzzo) (MOVIE)We Got A Little Turned Around At Park Ave, Driving Back+Forward ;-).jpg
zzzp) RockFormations At VisitorCenter Area - Entrance Of Park (Center Closed Yet Btw).JPG
zzzq) David Thought Having Sighted A Bighorn Ram.JPG
zzzr) Reading The Informative Displays Outside Visitor Center (Also Freshening Up+Changing Clothes In The Restrooms).JPG
zzzs) We Have Seen Most Major Points Of The Arches National Park.JPG
zzzt) Its Been Great Fun!.JPG
zzzu) Yes, As I Told You So ... On Average A Person Needs 1 Gallon Of Water Per Day.JPG
zzzv) Driving Up To Red Clif Lodge (Between the Arches+Castle Valley) For Dinner.JPG
zzzw) Nice! .... Red Cliffs Ranch Turned Into A Deluxe Lodge Situated In The Red Rock Canyonlands.JPG
zzzx) We Opted To Eat Indoors Though (Pictures Taken From Our Window-View).JPG
zzzy) That Was A Good Choice, Because It Started To Rain Again (And No Drizzle This Time).JPG
zzzz) Cozy Warm Indoors And A Nice+Real Meal For Once Again! (At Last ;-).JPG
zzzza) Under Modest Influence Of Nice Tasting Castle Creek Wine We Had With Dinner, Exploring Movie History Museum.JPG
zzzzb) Dozens of Movies and Hundreds of Commercials Have Been Filmed At the Ranch Or Very Nearby.JPG
zzzzc) Rio Grande (John Wayne, Maureen OHara) Was The First Movie Filmed At Red Cliffs Ranch In 1948.JPG
zzzzd) The Red Cliffs Museum Holds 100s of Historical Movie-Making Memorabilia Items.JPG
zzzze) This Museum Rocks and Outlaw Red is My Favorite Wine! (Castle Creek Winery Brand).JPG
zzzzf) Cheers!.JPG
zzzzg) Sweet ......JPG
zzzzh) Nostalgia ....JPG
zzzzi) And Off We Go .. Back to Our Bed+BreakFast in Castle Valley (Driving Very Carefully ....) ~ Night Night!.JPG
 

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