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Jerry Pillarelli | profile | all galleries >> Travel and Nature; Sites by State >> US Travel; by Trip, by State >> Utah >> Arches National Park – Utah >> Arches National Park - Utah (2016) tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Arches National Park - Utah (2016)

Images of Arches National Park – Eastern Utah, taken in April 2016.

Arches National Park protects one of the world’s greatest densities of natural arches as well as numerous spires, pinnacles and balanced rocks.

I was in Arches eight years ago and it is one of my favorite parks because of all the odd and interesting rock formations including the arches themselves. Like snowflakes no two formations are alike and each takes on a different appearance depending on your viewpoint.

I was discussing my travels with a couple who had just arrived in Moab so I mentioned that I had been to Arches in 2008 and they asked if the park had changed since my last visit. Normally the answer would be “no” but on this occasion, in this park, I sadly had to answer “yes”. In 2008 I took the trail out to see the arches in the northern part of the park and along the way passed Wall Arch. It was an arch carved out of a fin that paralleled the trail and was positioned next to another fin making it hard to photograph because I couldn’t get far enough away from it to get it all in the picture. I backtracked down the trail some to get the shot and moved on.

Back in Atlanta a little over three months later I was paging through the USA Today when I came across a news story documenting the fact that Wall Arch had collapsed. Time and weather had taken its toll and it was gone. In an instant on a dark night in August, what had taken thousands of years of wind and water to carve and mold was reduced to rubble by gravity and the very forces that created it.

The image I took of Wall Arch back in 2008 is reposted in black and white in this gallery along with two images of what remains today in the aftermath of its collapse. As photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson once said “Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.” I felt lucky to have seen Wall Arch and it made me realize that nothing lasts forever and what I put off seeing today may not be there tomorrow…
The moon over a rock formation in the Garden of Eden in Arches National Park
The moon over a rock formation in the Garden of Eden in Arches National Park 		A rock formation in the Garden of Eden in Arches National Park
A rock formation in the Garden of Eden in Arches National Park		 Sunset on the La Sal Mountains and formations in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Sunset on the La Sal Mountains and formations in the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 A formation in the Garden of Eden area of Arches National Park
A formation in the Garden of Eden area of Arches National Park		 The La Sal Mountains from Arches National Park
The La Sal Mountains from Arches National Park
Double Arch (center) in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Double Arch (center) in the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 Double Arch in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Double Arch in the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 Under Double Arch in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Under Double Arch in the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 Rock formations in the Windows Section with the La Sal Mountains in the background in Arches National Park
Rock formations in the Windows Section with the La Sal Mountains in the background in Arches National Park		 The North and South Windows in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
The North and South Windows in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Long shadows on the sand in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Long shadows on the sand in the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 Clouds over Turret Arch in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Clouds over Turret Arch in the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 Snow falling beyond the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Snow falling beyond the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 The Windows Section with snow falling on the La Sal Mountains in the background in Arches National Park
The Windows Section with snow falling on the La Sal Mountains in the background in Arches National Park		 A rock formation with the Courthouse Towers Section in the background in Arches National Park
A rock formation with the Courthouse Towers Section in the background in Arches National Park
Landscape Arch, over 100 yards long, along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Landscape Arch, over 100 yards long, along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 2016 view of the remains of Wall Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
2016 view of the remains of Wall Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 2008 view of Wall Arch less than three months before its collapse in Arches National Park
2008 view of Wall Arch less than three months before its collapse in Arches National Park		 2016: The remains of Wall Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
2016: The remains of Wall Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 Rock formations along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Rock formations along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Double O Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Double O Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 From behind Double O Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
From behind Double O Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 A fin along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
A fin along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 From behind Navajo Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
From behind Navajo Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 Navajo Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Navajo Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
The La Sal Mountains through rock formations along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
The La Sal Mountains through rock formations along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 Looking through Partition Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Looking through Partition Arch along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 Dark Angel (left) in the Devils Garden along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park
Dark Angel (left) in the Devils Garden along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park		 Delicate Arch from Panorama Point in Arches National Park
Delicate Arch from Panorama Point in Arches National Park		 Sunset on Delicate Arch from the Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint in Arches National Park
Sunset on Delicate Arch from the Lower Delicate Arch Viewpoint in Arches National Park
Park Avenue from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
Park Avenue from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park		 Along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
Along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park		 The walls of Park Avenue from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
The walls of Park Avenue from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park		 View of the Courthouse Towers Section from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
View of the Courthouse Towers Section from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park		 The Organ tower (right) in the Courthouse Towers Section from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
The Organ tower (right) in the Courthouse Towers Section from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
Looking into Park Avenue from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
Looking into Park Avenue from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park		 Rock Formations from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park
Rock Formations from along the Park Avenue Trail in Arches National Park		 The sun setting on Balanced Rock in Arches National Park
The sun setting on Balanced Rock in Arches National Park		 Balanced Rock in Arches National Park
Balanced Rock in Arches National Park		 The La Sal Mountains through rock formations near the Windows Section in Arches National Park
The La Sal Mountains through rock formations near the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Looking at the La Sal Mountains through formations in the Windows Section in Arches National Park
Looking at the La Sal Mountains through formations in the Windows Section in Arches National Park		 Skyline Arch along the park road near the Devils Garden Trailhead in Arches National Park
Skyline Arch along the park road near the Devils Garden Trailhead in Arches National Park		 Tower of Babel and The Organ in the Courthouse Towers Section in Arches National Park
Tower of Babel and The Organ in the Courthouse Towers Section in Arches National Park		 The Three Gossips and Sheep Rock in the Courthouse Towers Section in Arches National Park
The Three Gossips and Sheep Rock in the Courthouse Towers Section in Arches National Park		 The Windows Section of Arches National Park seen from Utah State Route 313 to Canyonlands National Park
The Windows Section of Arches National Park seen from Utah State Route 313 to Canyonlands National Park

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Dale Gentry 30-Apr-2016 14:24
I was there in 2014. You are right about the uniqueness of the rock formations. I can see going back would be a lot of fun again. When I was there, my wife and I stayed out there real late on Panorama Point (?) and photographed the Milky Way with the landscape in the foreground. I looks like you had great clouds for many of your photos. Great job.
Dave Berry28-Apr-2016 19:47
This is a terrific gallery. Thank you for posting the photo of Wall Arch, for those of us who will never see it. V+
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