A Final Pass Through Arches

While we were in the Visitors Center, storm clouds passed over us from behind and we could hear thunder. A storm was passing through, as predicted at the Visit’s Center, and Ruth was a bit freaked out. She’s not a fond of thunder and lightning. But since we were already at the park and I was curious to see what it would look like with the storm clouds coming through, we took a drive through the park again. There was one hike we still wanted to do – the one to Double Arch in the Windows Section.

We saw evidence of rain in some areas of the parks – little puddles formed on some of the rocks that had dents in them. The dark skies made the reds of the rocks look much different than when the sun or even the shade is on them. Very striking. And the holes in the clouds made spotlights on certain formations in the park.

Henry and I hiked up to Double Arch while Jeff and Ruth stayed in the car. It was just .3 miles, so it didn’t take long. The arch is amazing, because it’s an arch within an arch, with a little skylight on the top. I had hoped to ask someone to take our picture while we stood under the arch, but unfortunately, I picked the wrong person. I knew we were in trouble when she held the camera horizontally instead of vertically. No way she was going to get both us and the arch in the picture. I told her to zoom out and hoped for the best. Just to be safe, I took some pictures of Henry and got the whole arch in.



Henry at the Double Arch



On the way out, we saw a raven perched on the fence by the Jeep and took some pictures. Up close, you can see a little dark blue in their feathers.

We really enjoyed Arches National Park and hated to leave. Each time we went in, we saw things we had missed before. The hiking trails are excellent and easy to follow. I hope it’s not our last visit there.