Day Eleven
Arches, Timpanogos
 We get an early start this day as we have to drive across most of Utah and Idaho. We arrived at Arches National Park within minutes of opening (thanks to our Moab lodgings!). Water and Ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of the park. On clear days like this one with blue skies, it is hard to imagine such violent forces, or the 100 million years of erosion, that created this land that boasts the greatest density of natural arches in the world. The more than 2,000 cateloged arches range in size from a three foot opening, the minimum considered to be an arch, to the longest one, Landscape Arch, which measures 306 feet from base to base.  New arches are being formed and old ones are being destroyed. A slide show at the visitor center can explain and show all of this to you. This is our second visit to this park (the last time in 1995) and since we have alrealy checked out one of the most scenic portions of the park, The Windows, we decided that the best use of our time would be to check out the two remaining significant features, Delicate Arch and the Devils Garden. We hiked into the Devils Garden for about 1.5 miles to visit the Landscape Arch, and only had time to see the Delicate Arch viewpoint.
Leaving Arches NP, we headed north across Utah and make a brief visit to the Timpanogos Cave National Memorial. We only have enough time to stop at the visitor center. High on the steep rocky slopes of American Fork Canyon in the shadow of mighty Mt. Timpanogos in the Wasatch Range are three moderate sized limestone caves: Hansen Cave, Middle Cave and Timpanogos Cave. These exquisitely beautiful caverns are decorated with a dazzling display of helictites and anthodites in a variety of fantastic shapes. In the tradition of the National Park Service, Timpanogos Cave National Memorial preserves these caves and all their fragile underground wonders for you, and for others in the years ahead, to enjoy.
It would be a 5 hour straight out driving marathon to get from here to our nights lodgings in Boise. We made it in at about 8PM, in time for dinner and getting to bed early.
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