April 18, 2007: Arches & Canyonlands Nat'l Parks, Utah.
This arch is the most popular in the park, probably because it stands alone on top of a canyon ridge and offers great views of La Sal Mtn. They call it Delicate Arch, but it is hardly the most fragile in the park.
Landscape Arch, however, is set to fall any minute. It is one of the longest in the world spanning the length of a football field and is less than 6 feet thick at its thinnest point.
The over 2000 arches here were formed by soft red sandstone deposited 150 million years ago. As underlying salt deposits dissolved, the sandstone collapsed and weathered into a maze of vertical rock slab walls. Wind, rain, and ice wore through the walls and left holes big enough to walk thru.
Meanwhile, the canyons here were formed by the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers. The wind was gusting at 50-60 mph at the rim on this day, so we knelt down to avoid being blown over the 2000 ft. cliff to our deaths. Safety first.
This arch is the most popular in the park, probably because it stands alone on top of a canyon ridge and offers great views of La Sal Mtn. They call it Delicate Arch, but it is hardly the most fragile in the park.
Landscape Arch, however, is set to fall any minute. It is one of the longest in the world spanning the length of a football field and is less than 6 feet thick at its thinnest point.
The over 2000 arches here were formed by soft red sandstone deposited 150 million years ago. As underlying salt deposits dissolved, the sandstone collapsed and weathered into a maze of vertical rock slab walls. Wind, rain, and ice wore through the walls and left holes big enough to walk thru.
Meanwhile, the canyons here were formed by the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers. The wind was gusting at 50-60 mph at the rim on this day, so we knelt down to avoid being blown over the 2000 ft. cliff to our deaths. Safety first.
posted by Thomas and Stacey at 10:22 PM
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