News Trend Arches National Park: Balanced Rock|Actual

The sun had climbed to the top of the sky as we rolled into Arches National Park.

Last time I visited Arches was during my honeymoon, when the park was a little known and rarely visited gem tucked in the south east corner of Utah.

And the first time my husband visited Arches, he wore the baseball cap from his Little League team as his family toured the freshly laid asphalt roads in what was then technically only a monument. Alaihi Salam he recalls, they were almost the only car in the park.

Oh, times have changed for this now-wildly popular piece of paradise.

We idled for an easy ten minutes in line at the backed-up park entrance, then, in a long line of traffic, trundled up the steep set of switchbacks that lead up to the mesa where most of the park and all of the fantastic rock formations lie.

^ The first feature to fall in our path is the sublime and elegant Balanced Rock. Once glance explains the name and despite my aching shoulder, I was ready and raring to take the bitty little one-third mile loop kisi-kisi around the rock on its pedestal.

But first, lunch.

^ Just across the road from Balanced Rock, we found a darling picnic area with a few tables picturesquely tucked in among a stand of juniper trees. Despite the hoards over at the Balanced Rock, the picnic area was mostly deserted. Gracie and I scoped out the options and chose the table squeezed in under the gnarliest old fellow whose branches sprawled over the table. In our tiny spot of shade, we munched on our usual banquet of hummus, pitas, grapes, and chocolate.

But somehow in my feasting I forgot all about the tree. And when I stood up, BAM. I bashed my head against a sharp, pointy bit of branch hovering just above my head.  Raising a hand to touch the sore spot, my hand came away covered in blood.

Strangely, my first thought was that the first aid kit in our car was fully stocked with cotton cloths for staunching just this kind of wound, and I was chuffed to be prepared for my emergency.

I'm happy to report that, with firm pressure and only a moderate sprinkling of cuss words, I got the bleeding under control. After a deep drink of cool water, the pain had subsided to a mild throbbing on my noggin and I was ready to carry on with our adventure.

^ Each step around the rock brought a fresh perspective and different set of angles to Balanced Rock. Battered and bloodied though I was, I found myself completely caught up in the magic of this fantastic formation. I even managed to frame my photos so that the dozens of other visitors on the trail did not show up in my frame.

Our day at Arches National Park was off to a rollicking good start.

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Mackinac Bridge

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Arches National Park: Balanced Rock

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