Double your pleasure...of geology

Paid a visit to Arches National Park this morning. Thought I'd get the jump on everybody by getting there early, but then, I guess, so did everybody else. The parking lots were jam-packed by 8:30. Being a resident of Yosemite National Park for nearly 4 years, you might think I'd be be accustomed to crowds--but no, it bums me out all the same.

So many cars! At every pullout, every trailhead! I hiked as far as the trails would allow me in an attempt to surpass the threshold of distance that deters auto-bound tourists. I did finally find a small window (no pun intended) of solitude on something labeled the "primitive trail." It was an alternate route through an area called Devil's Garden (where the famous Landscape Arch resides) and by my standards it was barely primitive, especially for the desert. But thankfully the posted sign sent the majority of wary hikers packing in the opposite direction.

On the way out to that trail I passed several gorgeous arches, including this, called Double O Arch. It's actually 2 arches, consisting of the large one and another much smaller one below and to the left. The camera is facing northeast, towards I-70 and the Colorado border. It was my favorite spot along the whole 6-1/2 mile loop. Just beautiful.

I'm reading Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire right now (the timing is deliberate). It really enhances my sense of the place to have his words in my head as I hike along, gazing at the ancient scenery. (The book is about his experience as a ranger in Arches in the summers of 1956 and 1957--a time predating paved roads and, consequently, the immense crowds.)

I want to take more trips back into the park in the next couple days. You have to check these things out in the early morning and evening if you don't want to die of heat stroke. Or complications due to agoraphobia.