Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

hiking

A devilish cap

May 5, 2012

a devilish radiator cap

Russell Lee, a staff photographer for the U.S. Farm Security Administration, took this photograph of a radiator cap in Laurel, Mississippi in November 1938.

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http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1997025265/PP/

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Sipapu Natural Bridge.

April 22, 2012

Sipapu Natural Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, UtahNatural Bridges National Monument, Utah

The sign at the trailhead says:

Trail to bridge: .6 mile (.97 km) – 500 foot (152 m) elevation change.

A strenuous hike rewards the adventurous with a closer view of Sipapu Bridge.  The trail leads to either a viewpoint partway down the canyon wall or to the canyon bottom where you can stand beneath one of the world’s largest natural bridges.

The trail contains two flights of stairs, three ladders, steep switchbacks, exposed bare rock, and stretches requiring the use of handrails.

Sipapu Natural Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah

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Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Island in the Sky

April 2, 2012

Our final visit in the Moab area was to Canyonlands’ “Island in the Sky.”

The Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park is a mesa with sandstone cliffs that drop over 1,000 feet to the terrain below.  It is the easiest part of the park to visit, having many spectacular viewpoints at pullouts along the paved scenic roads.  At an average elevation of 6100 feet, it is the highest part of the park.  It includes about a dozen trails of varying lengths, some across the plateau as well as a few descending toward the rivers.


Selected Information Resources:Canyonlands National Park

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Windows Arches, Arches national Park, Utah

Windows and Turret.

March 20, 2012

Our final hike in Arches National Park was a loop trail – 1 mile (1.6 km) – that includes three large arches.

The Windows – also known as the Spectacles – are two very large arches eroded from the same sandstone fin.  Individually, the two arches are named North Window and South Window.  Bearing left on the loop trail, North Window is the first arch that is reached.  Visitors can easily climb up and stand or sit under this massive arch.  Continuing on the trail around a large sandstone extension from the fin, the South Window can be viewed from  the trail. A short spur leads to the base of the sandstone fin. South Window is higher than North Window and not easily accessed.

The third large arch, Turret Arch, lies in a castle-like sandstone formation.  A moderately strenuous climb though its span yields a view of the Windows framed by Turret Arch.


Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park images
at Wikimedia commons:
Turret Arch, Arches national Park, Utah

Arches National Park.

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In this case, Park Avenue is a canyon in Arches National Park.  A  1 mile (1.6 km) trail leads through it between the Park Avenue parking area and the Courthouse Towers parking area.

Our September 27, 2011 hike started from and returned to the Court House Towers parking area, going up hill up the canyon and down hill on our return.  We turned back at the steepest part of the trail, a short section from the Park Avenue viewpoint and trailhead.

Park Avenue viewpoint is the first major stop in the park after the visitor center.

Most visitors pass by Park Avenue trail  on their way to other more popular features, stopping only at the viewpoints at either end to perhaps snap a few photos.  We saw few other hikers on our “stroll” along the dry wash that passes between the towering walls of the canyon.


Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park images at
Wikimedia commons:

image

Arches National Park.

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The Colorado and Green Rivers divide Canyonlands National Park into three districts – the Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze, with the rivers themselves listed by the National Park Service as a fourth “district.”  Island in the Sky  is the easiest to visit and, thus, the most popular.  The Maze is more remote and the least accessible of the park’s districts.  The Needles is a 75 mile drive from Moab.  Most of the district’s features are found on its extensive trail system and four-wheel-drive roads.

The road to the Needles district passes through Newspaper Rock Recreational Site, location of a large collection of prehistoric petroglyph rock art.

Most of our September 26, 2011 exploration of the Needles was on the relatively short scenic drive and the 2.4 mile Slickrock Trail (a loop).


Selected Information Resources:

Canyonlands National Park

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