I’m sitting at the “Windows” parking area at Arches National Park near Moab, UT. It is 6:30 AM and sunrise won’t happen for another half-hour or so. Yesterday, as I was reading an article about visiting Arches—and chatting with the desk clerk at the hotel— I learned that the park can become quite crowded at this time of year—with long lines queued up at the entrance gate. There are instructions from the Park Service that visitors are NOT to queue beyond the park’s half mile entrance road and out onto the public highway. “Come back at a later time” is their direction. With two lanes stretching back a half a mile from the entrance booths, that’s about 350 cars waiting to get in. Yikes! I decided to get into the park early which is why I’m sitting here in the darkness.
The park is pretty large at 119 square miles; roughly the same size as Tampa, FL or Fresno, CA. The main park road is 29 miles in length, starting at the entrance. At an average speed of 40 MPH, that’s nearly 45 minutes to get from one side of the park to the other. Windows is about three quarters of the way to the end of the road. As I pulled into the Windows parking area, I was surprised to find that almost all of the 50-odd parking spaces were already taken. What are all these people doing here at this hour of the morning—and what do they know that I don’t? There were about 5 spaces left. As I pulled into one, I notice a nearby SUV with its occupant sitting in the open tailgate changing their footwear. Aha! Hikers!! Since the mid-day temperature can approach 100 degrees here in the Utah desert, an early morning hike in these surroundings would be ideal. And, the hiking trail takes you to a spot that most likely has a pretty spectacular sunrise.
I sipped my coffee while noting that there is no cell service, no WiFi. I’m cut off from the outside world— and that’s exactly where I should be at the moment. Minutes have passed and I’m beginning to see the morning twilight. I don’t hear any crickets…. or any other animal sounds; there is no breeze—and it is eerily quiet.
Those of us who live in mountainous areas are familiar with the ‘reverse’ sunrise effect whereby the top of any east-facing mountain ‘sees’ the effects of sunrise before the base. Just before sun appears on the horizon, the mountain top begins to glow with a pinkish hue which gradually gives way to the more familiar yellow glow. Then the light line works it way down the mountain as the run rises above the eastern horizon. Tall mountains to your west will experience the sunrise before you do if you’re standing in the valley below. This was the case at Arches: I was standing in a small ‘valley’ in a horseshoe shaped feature that ran from facing east, around to facing west. The formations consisted of irregularly shaped monoliths of different heights. As the sunlight began to appear at the top of the east facing formations, the shadows cast by the irregular formations opposite were amazing—like an upside-down city skyline in shadow—but golden and transparent. Since the sun rises slowly (about 1 degree every four minutes for the geeks among us), this spectacle looked like someone had poured a can of partially transparent gold paint over the top of the formation and it was very slowly dripping down the face of the red rock. VERY slowly. What an amazing sight. I sat transfixed for the following 10-15 minutes as the sun continued to illuminate the entire park and I could see Arches coming to life. The scope of this national park inspires awe. As I continued to look all around, I began to wonder how I could ever capture this with a camera? It would be impossible. I’m looking at a geological marvel that stretches to the horizon in all directions. This was created by forces of nature: uplift, wind and water, over millions of years. Anything else certainly pales by comparison. All the problems that we humans cast upon ourselves and each other are insignificant in the face of what mother nature has wrought in this place. I experienced an incredible sense of calm. Whatever worries I had been experiencing over the past weeks or months were gone in that moment. I was at peace. I went to Arches with the intent of seeing some great scenery. This visual and emotional experience was unexpected.
It started raining. Lightly at first, then a steady rain which I thought was unusual being that I’m in the desert. Pretty soon, most of the hikers were returning— they had completed their mission or it had been interrupted by the rain— in either case, the parking lot began emptying out pretty quickly. Something that was not dampened by the rain, however, was the feeling of amazement within me for being able to experience this place. We all get caught up in the daily challenges of our lives. What we need to get caught up in are moments like this.
If you have an opportunity to come here, do so. If not, find your own “Arches”; the place or thing that allows you to set aside the craziness and frustration of your everyday life and find that peaceful calm that we all need in our lives.
–Jeff
September 22, 2020
P.S. The pictures can’t convey the scope and size of the landscape features; they need to seen to be believed.