Day 110 Moab, UT-Arches National Park, UT

Day 110 Moab, UT-Arches national park, UT
11.18.16
Woke up to a gorgeous canyon wall towering over our campsite along the Colorado River.  Got moving early so we could check out Arches National Park. Watched a video about how the arches were formed at the visitor center.   Water seeping through parallel cracks dissolves the calcite that bonds the sandstone together from the inside out.  After the video, we decided that we should spend the night in the park so that we would have time to hike to some of the arches. So we drove to the end of the park road which is where the one and only campground is located-Devil's Garden Campground. Once we secured a campsite, we headed out to Fiery Furnace, a labyrinth of narrow sandstone canyons. We could only view Fiery Furnace from above as a ranger is required to hike there.  Next stops were Salt Valley overlook and Delicate Arch viewpoint.  Then on to Windows arches where we took a hike around and through the various arches in the area-north window arch, south window arch, turret arch, double arch and more. It wasn't a long hike but somehow we managed to take over an hour as we oohed and awed at the scenery and arches. The Windows arches were rock picture frames for the valley below.  Double arch is two giant arches that are joined together at one end. Standing under these arches and looking up you wonder why they don't just break apart and fall down. They are really amazing. One last stop before heading back to the campground at Balanced Rock. The name describes it well.  Back at the campground, time for one more hike before dinner to Tapestry arch. This arch is not hollow in the middle yet but you can see the arch formed in the rock wall.   Watched the sunset as it created an orangy red glow across the valley floor and on the rock formations. And then it was dark, but of course then we had the stars to gaze upon.  It is suppose to get down to 17 degrees tonight so we are bundling up.