The desert is hot – imagine that. This park is pretty well put together and I am so glad we decided to come here. Even the drive into the park was pretty cool. Just beside the scenic drive are numerous landmarks that are so much larger
and cooler in person. We drove past balancing rock and Brad renamed it tee-ball rock. There were times when we just had to stop the car so we could get out and hike around to check it out. Times when I was looking at the colors of the landscape and I could not believe it so I needed to get out and take a picture of the hills that looked painted. The sweeping sandstone looked like a page right out of a Dr. Seuss book. The rings on the mountains in all directions like the book "Oh the Places You’ll Go" – that is the best way I can describe these mountains. There were hills in front of them spotted with small shrubs and the colors just did not seem right for the area. There were the greenest hills I have ever seen and not green like grass. The ground was green; it was kind of strange looking. We drove to the trailhead arch and off we went past the desert like parking area to former dunes that have been pressurized into mountains. The trail is informal and marked with rock towers mostly. It is easy for the most part to see the correct way to go and as long as you are going up you are more or less going in the correct direction. We went up and up and up and luckily we had water because it is so hot out here that you can not even feel yourself sweet the
moisture just seems to be wicked out of you without your knowing. We finally crested the top of the sand dune mountain and rested in the shade of a huge rock that looked as though it had shifted at one point and created a shelf perfect for seating and a wall that provided shade. Along this part of the hike the scenery began to change and we noticed around us arches of different magnitude 
and structure. Some were not full arches but they against a mountain so it looked like an arch glued to rock. Others were arches all the way through forming peepholes and walkways in the rock. Once we reached the top the arch we saw there nearly made us gasp. It was delicate arch and it was so awesome. It is so hard to imagine the natural forces at work and the chance that this tall vertical arch would be the result. I am amazed that the Earth and its features shift so much and it mystifies me in a wonderful way. I could not help but be a little sad that by the very changing nature of the land, which surrounds the arch, this delicate arch will not be around forever for all future generations to see. But, luckily geological time is slow so there will probably be no changes in this arch fo
r some time to come. He hiked all the way to the arch and we were able to stand in between its two giant pillars and gaze through it at the backdrop that makes Arches National Park and beyond. It was a really cool place to stand and once we were done standing under the arch we walked a little ways back and sat down with the arch still in view. It was nice to just sit and look at it in wonder. It was also neat to watch other people experience the arch, in doing this we were in a way experiencing it through the eyes of others which is always a neat thing to do. After hydrating we headed away from the arch. I looked back for as long as it was still in view because the arch was a treat to see each time. We hiked back the way we came and trucked onward through the rock sculptured hills of Arches. As we 
were leaving the park we saw a spotted buffalo. It looked like a cow buffalo perfect with black and white spots. It was the coolest buffalo I have ever seen. We camped at a campground in Capitol Reef National Park. There was a group of deer that wandered the outskirts of the campground so we sat 
for a while and enjoyed watching them grazing on the grass. I am still nervous about my car and our things. I do not want to get caught up on this because I realize it is more important that we are okay, but still it is hard. We did talk about maybe turning back and going home but we are going to trust that we will have fun regardless and with faith we will be all right.
and cooler in person. We drove past balancing rock and Brad renamed it tee-ball rock. There were times when we just had to stop the car so we could get out and hike around to check it out. Times when I was looking at the colors of the landscape and I could not believe it so I needed to get out and take a picture of the hills that looked painted. The sweeping sandstone looked like a page right out of a Dr. Seuss book. The rings on the mountains in all directions like the book "Oh the Places You’ll Go" – that is the best way I can describe these mountains. There were hills in front of them spotted with small shrubs and the colors just did not seem right for the area. There were the greenest hills I have ever seen and not green like grass. The ground was green; it was kind of strange looking. We drove to the trailhead arch and off we went past the desert like parking area to former dunes that have been pressurized into mountains. The trail is informal and marked with rock towers mostly. It is easy for the most part to see the correct way to go and as long as you are going up you are more or less going in the correct direction. We went up and up and up and luckily we had water because it is so hot out here that you can not even feel yourself sweet the
moisture just seems to be wicked out of you without your knowing. We finally crested the top of the sand dune mountain and rested in the shade of a huge rock that looked as though it had shifted at one point and created a shelf perfect for seating and a wall that provided shade. Along this part of the hike the scenery began to change and we noticed around us arches of different magnitude 
and structure. Some were not full arches but they against a mountain so it looked like an arch glued to rock. Others were arches all the way through forming peepholes and walkways in the rock. Once we reached the top the arch we saw there nearly made us gasp. It was delicate arch and it was so awesome. It is so hard to imagine the natural forces at work and the chance that this tall vertical arch would be the result. I am amazed that the Earth and its features shift so much and it mystifies me in a wonderful way. I could not help but be a little sad that by the very changing nature of the land, which surrounds the arch, this delicate arch will not be around forever for all future generations to see. But, luckily geological time is slow so there will probably be no changes in this arch fo
r some time to come. He hiked all the way to the arch and we were able to stand in between its two giant pillars and gaze through it at the backdrop that makes Arches National Park and beyond. It was a really cool place to stand and once we were done standing under the arch we walked a little ways back and sat down with the arch still in view. It was nice to just sit and look at it in wonder. It was also neat to watch other people experience the arch, in doing this we were in a way experiencing it through the eyes of others which is always a neat thing to do. After hydrating we headed away from the arch. I looked back for as long as it was still in view because the arch was a treat to see each time. We hiked back the way we came and trucked onward through the rock sculptured hills of Arches. As we 
were leaving the park we saw a spotted buffalo. It looked like a cow buffalo perfect with black and white spots. It was the coolest buffalo I have ever seen. We camped at a campground in Capitol Reef National Park. There was a group of deer that wandered the outskirts of the campground so we sat 
for a while and enjoyed watching them grazing on the grass. I am still nervous about my car and our things. I do not want to get caught up on this because I realize it is more important that we are okay, but still it is hard. We did talk about maybe turning back and going home but we are going to trust that we will have fun regardless and with faith we will be all right.
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