The Symbol of Arches National Park - Delicate Arch

I always wanted to visit Moab in Utah - an outdoor playground for people of all ages, especially for off roading at the canyonlands national park. Moab is about 1230 miles from Houston where I live. In December of 2020, I decided to drive over to Moab with my wife Anju. It was a long drive that included a night's stay at Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of the reasons to visit in December was to avoid the crowd during other seasons. My plan was to photograph all the arches in the Arches National Park in Moab. After almost 24 hours of driving, we reached Moab, greeted with temperatures well below 0 deg. Celsius.

Arches National Park was created as a national monument in 1929, and was given National Park status in 1971. There are more than 2000 documented arches within this arid land of 76,359 acres at an elevation 4000 to 5650 feet above sea level! The unusual scenery is a testimony to the complex interaction between the natural elements that continues to shape the landscape to this day. The visit to the park becomes all the more interesting once one understands the geological history of the Colorado Plateau and the bedrock strata. The scenic rock formations have been carved principally from four Jurassic-aged strata: the Navajo Sandstone, the Dewey Bridge Member of the Carmel formation, the Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone and the Moab Member of the Curtis Formation.

One of the more memorable hikes was the trail to the Delicate Arch - symbol of the west! Twelve miles from the visitor Centre, a gravel road leads to the Delicate Arch trail, a 1.5-mile trek that gains 500 feet in elevation. The restored 1906 Wolfe Cabin is located at the base of the trail, a ranch built by Civil War veteran John Wesley Wolfe and his family, who were residents here from 1898 to 1910. John Wesley Wolfe and his son Fred settled on the banks of Salt Wash, drawn by the climate which was drier and healthier than their previous home in Ohio. Just past the cabin is a rock art panel displaying many Ute petroglyphs. The trail crosses salt wash on a suspension bridge, and winds through Entrada slick rock. The views are quite dramatic.

Carved in Entrada Sandstone, this free-standing arch is composed mostly of the Slick Rock member. The top is a five-foot thick layer of Moab Tongue. The Arch today has an opening 45 feet (13.7 meters) high and 33 feet (10 meters) wide. Water and time have sculpted Delicate Arch, and erosion continues to slowly wear away this icon of the American West. It will eventually succumb to the same forces that created it.

The unique shape of the arch and its dramating setting, perched on the edge of Cache valley with the La Sal Mountains in the distance, draws photographers from all over the world. The arch seemed delicate to the scientific expedition team (1933-34) that named it.

Our decision to visit during the winter season was a good one, as there were only a couple of people there besides us.

I realized that nature is the artist here, working in the medium of sandstone, using the twin chisels of water and flowing underground salt. She uplifts, collapses, sculpts, and molds; a performance art piece that is never finished, yet amazingly beautiful!

Bedrock Strata of Arches National Park

Arches National Park, Moab, Utah