The Geologic Story of Arches National Park: Geological Survey Bulletin 1393Lohman, Stanley William
Science
The Geologic Story of Arches National Park: Geological Survey Bulletin 1393
Lohman, Stanley William
Arches National Park (Utah); Geology -- Utah -- Arches National Park -- Guidebooks
After leaving Wolfe’s Ranch, the trail to Delicate Arch crosses Salt
Wash on a suspension foot bridge (fig. 42). Just beyond the bridge, a
short walk to the left (north) leads to the Ute petroglyphs shown in the
lower photograph of figure 2. The most difficult part of the trail, on
bare sandstone, is marked by cairns of stones placed at sufficient
intervals to keep hikers from losing the barely visible trail. When the
summit finally is reached and the last corner rounded, one suddenly sees
perhaps the most sublime view in the park—famed Delicate Arch, framing
part of the La Sal Mountains beyond (fig. 43). This graceful arch and
mighty Landscape Arch (fig. 53) were considered to be in serious
jeopardy during the era of sonic booms, but hopefully this danger now is
past. (See p. 16-17.)
It may be of interest to shutterbugs that professional photographer Hal
Rumel lugged an 8- × 10-inch camera plus a heavy tripod and accessories
up the steep trail to get the excellent photograph of Delicate Arch
shown in figure 43. The late afternoon sun intensified the red somewhat,
but my shots made earlier in the day using both 4- × 5-inch and 35-mm
equipment resulted in unwanted shadows, even though the salmon color of
the Slick Rock Member was more nearly normal.
After leaving the junction with the side road, the main park road
traverses slices of vertical strata squeezed between faults along the
north side of Salt Valley, then gradually climbs out of the valley for
about 2 miles to a parking area (stop 19), from which good views are had
of the southeast end of Salt Valley and of the grabens in the west end
of Cache Valley. (See fig. 11.)
[Illustration: Petroglyph figure]
[Illustration: SUSPENSION FOOT BRIDGE ACROSS SALT WASH, in front of
Wolfe’s cabin at beginning of Delicate Arch trail. (Fig. 42)]
[Illustration: DELICATE ARCH, from end of trail 1½ miles above
Wolfe’s Ranch. The opening is 33 feet wide and 45 feet high. The
left abutment is only 5 feet wide at the narrowest point. The arch
is carved near the top of the Slick Rock Member, and the top of the
span, 19 feet thick, is capped by a few feet of the more resistant
Moab Member, as is Broken Arch (fig. 16). Photograph by Hal Rumel,
Salt Lake City. (Fig. 43)]
Fiery Furnace
About half a mile farther uphill is a parking area for viewing the
southeastern part of the Fiery Furnace (stop 20), a vast array of
towering fins and pinnacles of the reddish Slick Rock Member separated
by narrow slots, vaguely resembling flames shooting skyward. The view of
the Fiery Furnace in figure 44 was taken about 1 mile farther up the
hill. It is not difficult to get lost among this myriad of fins and
narrow slots, so ranger-guided tours are conducted during the summer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account