Today's weather was a carbon copy of yesterday. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature in the low/mid 50's............with one exception. The winds have blown around 25-30 mph all day with gusts reported up to 50 mph. That's a mighty wind, especially when you're outside on sand trails and hiking around sandstone features. Sand in the eyes, ears, nose and mouth and somewhat of a sand blasted face. Was it worth it? Heck yeah!
Our goal for the day was Arches National Park which is located just outside of Moab, Utah. It was about 150 miles from Capital Reef National Park where we had spent the night. Our first stop along the way was a place Beth had visited previously on one of her old lady trips, Goblin Valley State Park. The easiest way to describe where Goblin Valley is located is that it's about five miles on the other side of nowhere. Highway 24 runs within about 15 miles of the park and a couple hours diversion is well worth it.
The Goblins of Goblin Valley are sandstone formations courtesy of a few million years, plus erosion by wind and water. A couple of unique things about them compared to the other geologic features we've been seeing is that they are much smaller. Some looked like mushrooms, others like cow patties, and with a little imagination some looked like animals. Collectively they looked like a red smurf village. The other unique thing is that you can easily walk around, in and through them.
https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/goblin-valley/
Entering Arches National Park meant that we've now knocked four of the "Mighty Five" off the list. Arches National Park features not only arches but also spires, spires with massive rocks balancing on top and other impressive formations. Of course as the name implies, the most impressive features are the arches. The National Park Service has cataloged over 2,000 "arches" within the park. The largest is close to as wide as a football field and the smallest are around three feet wide. Many are not visible from the park roads or trails but most of the large ones are easy to see from a viewpoint or with a small hike. No matter the size, they're impressive even while sand is blowing into every orifice.
https://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm
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| Goblin Valley State Park |
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| Beth and the Goblins |
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| Me and the Goblins |
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| Sand Dune Arch-Arches National Park |
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| Skyline Arch-taken from behind the tree to block the sun. It is close to the width of a football field and only six feet thick at it's most narrow point. |
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| It's called "Broken Arch". The crack in the middle runs from top to bottom |
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| Near the entrance to Arches National Park |
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| Balanced Rock-Arches National Park |
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| Inspired by the Balanced Rock! |
