Sheep Rock                                                                                    The Three Gossips                                                                    Balanced Rock

We then continue driving further into the park, passing between the Great Wall (which features a rock pinnacle - right) and the Petrified Dunes (left).

 

At the Balanced Rock, we walk an easy 0.3-mile trail that loops round this slender sandstone spire with a large 'rock' at its summit.

 

Further north from Balanced Rock, we park at Wolf Ranch, the starting point for the first of today's strenuous treks. This hike involves a steady climb, without any natural cover from the blazing sun, to the park's most famous feature: Delicate Arch

The path up to the arch has been improved in a number of places since our previous visit, but it is still a hard climb. Although we recall a number of the walk's features, our memories place them in different categories of difficulty. But, one aspect of the hike is still exactly the same: the staggering view of Delicate Arch that emerges at the end of the 1½-mile climb. 

It takes us 50-minutes to make the ascent, we spend a ½-hour at the arch, and it takes us 40-minutes to return to the car. More people are making the ascent than on our previous visit to the 52-foot freestanding natural arch, which is at an elevation of 4,606-feet.

 

 

 

Right:

David below Delicate Arch

 

 

Near where we are parked at Wolfe Ranch there are some petroglyphs (below) which we examine before driving to the Garden Of Eden section of the park

Ham Rock, Garden of Eden

After viewing the unique rock formations in the Garden of Eden (above and right) we drive to the Windows section of the park to walk the Windows Loop Trail to see more unique formations.

North Window

Turret Window

North Window

North Window and South Window

The Windows Loop Trail ia about 1-mile long and encompasses Turret Arch as well as North Window and South Window - these two arches (also known as The Spectacles) are cut from the same sandstone fin that is over 100-feet wide.