A short hike at Arches National Park. Note, includes a slide show (14 slides), this post should be considered graphics heavy.
About 9 miles, approximately half way, into the park is Balanced Rock. Here it is, in the middle.
Ya, kinda neat eh?? I could not resist a panoramic. (Click on photo for larger version.)
According to the signage, the cap rock is "hard slick rock". The pedestal is "Mudstone". Obviously, the mudstone weathers quite a bit faster than does the cap of hard slick rock. And, yes, they expect, that eventually, the cap will tumble down.
If you look at the map of Arches, you will see there is a short hiking/walking trail that goes all the way around Balanced Rock. Man and I took that little walk, and Sony and I took a lot of photos, presented here in the order I took them. Love the different angles and how balanced or unbalanced Balanced Rock really looks as you circle around.
I'll leave you with a photo taken while on our little walk around Balanced Rock, looking off into the distance, mountains, red rock, a lovely path, Utah junipers and other flora. Another, "takes my breath away" photo.
Hope you enjoyed our walk around Balanced Rock. There is a lot more of our second day of our visit at Arches National Park, come on back, I think our next post will include some rock climbers.
Photos taken on April 28, 2011.
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