Arches National Park at Sunset
The First Night
Jump ahead to Double Arch,
Windows and Turret Arch
After finishing the hike to Delicate Arch, I had a little bit of time to kill before sunset, so it made sense to drive around Arches and wait for the sky to put on a show. I decided to drive up to the northern end of the park road, into Devils Garden -- where Skyline Arch greets you.
The road eventually passes Skyline Arch. If you want to hike to it, take the road to the campground and amphitheater. You can also access Broken Arch and Sand Dune Arch from there.
Around this same area, at the side of the road, I spotted a great view of the La Sal Mountains, framed by some red rocks. I had to park at the nearest turnout, then walk back up the road a short distance, until the mountains lined up perfectly. Then, I waited for the sun...
... which eventually appeared, and provided some light in the foreground.
With sunset still about an hour away, I decided it was finally time to get a close look at an arch I had missed on my previous visits.
Double Arch
Double Arch proves you never know what to expect out here. Instead of the usual single arch, which is a somewhat two-dimensional feature, Double Arch takes us into the third dimension. The two arches are joined together at a roughly 90-degree angle, forming a triangle.
I don't know of any other place in Arches where, when you walk underneath an arch, you feel like you're walking into something. It's a neat place that I had always ignored. On my previous visits, I had walked all around the other features in the Windows area, but since Double Arch was on the other side of the parking lot, I skipped it. What a mistake!
North and South Windows
Across the parking lot, the setting sun was casting a brilliant light on the North and South Windows, which from a distance look somewhat like a half-buried giant with a huge nose.
Nearby, Turret Arch is tough to photograph at this time of day, since the sun sets directly behind it.
There are other features as well, which don't have an arch attached, but are still pretty spectacular, thanks to the La Sal Mountains as a backdrop.
The sun finally cast its last rays for the day...
... and after it set, I managed to get one more decent picture before packing up, and heading back to Moab.
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If you want to see more sunset pictures, jump ahead to the next night, when I returned to Arches. |
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