A Landscape of Up

Located just north of Moab, Arches National Park is a landscape of up.

Look up at the lumpy stone towers plopped here and there, grouped in clusters or standing alone as solitary sentinels in an otherwise bleak vale.

Crane your neck even further to admire the enormous and improbable Balancing Rock and countless other colossal formations whose form and substance give frank testimony to our own fleeting existence on this ancient earth.

Ogle up at the thin, gravity-defying stone arc that vaults across a span over 300 feet at Architecture Arch.

Climb up, up, up and through rock canyons, channels, holes and arches hollowed out of looming monoliths over millions of years. Scramble along long sandstone fins at tummy-fluttering heights.

During our visit we undertook an eight mile hike in 90+ degree weather. We traversed every landform type in the park – from nerving ourselves atop jutting stone promontories to slogging uphill through a sandy wasteland. While tiring, our efforts were rewarded with a unique, intimate experience.

Here are just some of the pictures we took during our visit.