Arches National Park: Balanced Rock

Balance:

1)      Noun--an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady

2)      Verb--an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady

Balanced Rock is one of the main attractions at Arches National Park.  It is a short, easy walk from the parking lot next to Arches Scenic Drive.  It appears that it is precariously perched atop an unstable pile of rocks.  The total height of Balanced Rock is 128 feet, 55 of them being the perched stone itself.  This pronouncement of rock is a photographer’s dream.  It can be captured from all sides (except from above) and the sun can radiate it or be eclipsed by it.  It is there 24 hours a day, seven days a week awaiting its demise.  Until that time, we can continue to marvel at it and appreciate its beauty from sunrise to sunset. 

There are many different rock formations throughout Arches National Park.  Some are fin-like.  It almost appears to be a collection of sandstone sharks approaching.  Some are smooth and soft while others are jagged like the edge of a knife.  Some are thick as a mountain and others are thinner until they end with an edge like a razor.  Others are shaped like beer bottles, thin and round and teetering against each other.  Arches welcomes all kinds of rock formations into its garden of sandstone. 

Have you visited Arches National Park?  What were your impressions?  For more information about Arches National Park, click the link below.

https://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm

Arches National Park

Man-made arches have been used for centuries in construction.  Structures like the Roman aqueducts, the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris are recognizable uses of the arch over time.  But what about natural arches that form in the world?  Arches National Park provides around 2000 examples of arches that have formed naturally. Less than a mile and a half off Arches Scenic Drive are Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch.  Sand Dune Arch is appropriately named because the walk to the arch is short but it is through deep and very fine sand.  Here is a video of part of the walk. 

When you exit Sand Dune Arch, walk straight to Broken Arch.  Some of the trail has some tricky footing so be careful.  You will be rewarded with a gorgeous arch at the head of the trail.  This trail continues to Devils Garden Campground.  The trip to Broken Arch from the roadside parking lot (near Sand Dune Arch) is approximately 1.3 miles. 

The Devils Garden area provides many great views of multiple arches.  My favorite is Tunnel Arch.  I was lucky enough to be there near the end of the day when the sunlight was glowing directly through the arch.  Not sure is I like the picture in color or black and white better.  What do you think? 

Around the corner from Tunnel Arch is Pine Tree Arch.  This is, by far, the thickest arch I saw.  It looks like someone punched a parallelogram through it to create the arch.  Just outside of the arch provides a view of rock formations.

Delicate Arch is one of the premiere locations for photography in the park.  I did not have time to take the long trail to see the arch up close but I was able to snap a few pictures from the main viewing area. 

Skyline Arch lives up to its name, sitting atop a massive rock formation and peering down at us mere mortals.  It looks like an ice cold blue eye with the sky illuminating its opening. 

Finally, North Window, South Window and Turret Arches.  This is a fantastic location for sunset.  The three arches face the west and the La Sal Mountains are to the south. 

Have you visited Arches National Park?  What were your impressions?  For more information about Arches National Park, click the link below.

https://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm 

Kings Canyon National Park: The Kings River

Please be patient, it may take a minute for the videos to load.

No:

Swimming

Wading

Boating

Rafting

or Fishing.

In essence, stay out of the water.  It is too rough.  Too fast.  Too violent.  It’s not this dangerous on the whole river, but in many parts of Kings Canyon National Park, it is.

I am convinced that if you fell into the Kings River in most areas of Kings Canyon National Park, you would be dead within minutes.  There are too many boulders that you would strike and the water is too fast that you could never stand up or drag yourself to safety.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a gorgeous flow of water to see in contrast with the mountains and valleys.  But in this case, Mother Nature is not to be tested.

The Kings River provides irrigation to over a million acres of farmland in California's central valley.  The river also provides fresh drinking water to central valley residents.  In some areas, white water rafting is permitted.  It is a level 3 river.

I made acrylic prints of this waterfall.  They are as breathtaking as the waterfall is itself.

Have you seen the Kings River in person?  What were your impressions?

For more information about Kings Canyon National Park, click the link below.

https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm

Kings Canyon National Park: The Dual Legacy of Water

I leisurely drove down Route 180 from my hotel in Fresno to the fork in the road where you can either choose to turn right to visit Sequoia National Park or bear left to enter Kings Canyon National Park.  I was extremely excited to visit Sequoia NP because it has a grove of trees which are some of the largest and longest living organisms in the world.  But Kings Canyon?  I had never heard of the place.  Sequoias would have to wait while my curiosity won out. 

As I entered the visitor center a park ranger exclaimed, “Welcome to Kings Canyon National Park!”. 

I responded, “Um, to be honest, I’ve never heard of this place”. 

She smiled and said, “Yeah, we like it like that.  The other parks get big crowds.  We are happy with being off the radar.”

The Kings River carves its way through the valley.

She explained that Kings Canyon is unique in that it has two valleys.  One is a V-shaped valley which was formed primarily by water erosion and a U-shaped valley which was formed when a glacier receded and pulled much of the rocks and sediment away.  So melted snow and ice turned into water and formed the V valley and frozen water formed the U valley.  Interesting.  I decided to investigate both valleys.

The roads curve around a dangerous landscape of rocks and boulders.

The V valley was amazing.  Sharp slopes had been carved into the mountains leaving them with jagged ravines for the water to flow.  Even from a couple thousand feet above, I could hear the roar of the Kings River below. 

The base of the mountains in the U valley were littered with massive granite boulders larger than cars and houses.  This left the U valley with wide gorges where grass and ferns grew waist-high and covered the valley floor. 

I'm 6 feet tall and about 275lbs in this picture.  This is a massive hunk of granite.  

Although I knew nothing about Kings Canyon National Park until I walked into the visitor center that day, I am forever grateful that I explored this national park.  I now believe that Kings Canyon NP is one of the most underrated places in the entire country.  I highly recommend this park for a day or week-long visit. 

Have you visited Kings Canyon NP?  Did you like it?  Would you agree that it is an underrated park?

For more information about Kings Canyon National Park, click the link below.

https://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm

Grand Canyon National Park: The Grandest of Them All

January 1996

"You might want to take a sweatshirt or some long pants.  It will be cooler out there."  

"No, I will be fine."  

We waited about 30 minutes while the pilot of our small plane completed his pre-flight checklist.  It was late January in Vegas and overcast.  The temperature was a very comfortable 70 degrees whereas at my apartment in the suburbs of Philadelphia it was around freezing.  Little did these people know that I was born and raised in the frozen tundra of Bradford, PA.  70 degrees was a nice summer day and 53 degrees, as it was on the rim of the canyon that day, was shorts and t-shirt weather.  

Although relatively fit at 210lbs, the pilot took one look at me, then at the other passengers and said, "You're going to have to sit next to me in the front or we aren't getting off the ground."  I had only flown a couple of times in my life up to that point and I had a significant fear of heights (still do).  Being in a small plane at 5000 or so feet was going to challenge my fear and force me to confront it.  The pilot, although only in his mid-twenties like myself, executed the flight plan perfectly and my fears were minimized.  We landed next to the rim of the canyon unscathed and proceeded to a school bus that took us on a two mile tour.  Native Americans explained to us the history and lore of this magnificent site.  

"Be careful standing at the edge and looking down.  I haven't lost anyone yet."  Yes, you could stand at the edge and look down over 1000 feet to the jagged rocks below.  You just can't fathom how powerful the water must have been to carve such a deep crater into these rocks.

This contraption was erected in the 1800's.  It was a cable system designed to extract bat droppings from caves across the gorge.  Workmen would travel along the cables (like an old style zip line) to the caves, use suction tools to accumulate the guano, then transport it via the cable to workmen at this station.  The droppings would then be used for fertilizer on farms in the west.  

This was a very enjoyable tour.  I was picked up at my hotel and driven to Boulder City where we boarded the plane and were flown to the canyon.  Once there, we were taken on the bus tour and fed lunch.  The entire process took about 7 hours and (in 1996) only cost $110--some of the best money I've ever spent.  The GC is worth so much more.  

Have you been to the Grand Canyon?  What was the favorite part of your experience there and why?

For more information about Grand Canyon National Park, click on the link below.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm