Balanced Rock

 Balanced Rock was our next stop.  It was a quick hike around it and back to the car. 

 

 Just thought this was neat!

 

The view on the way to the windows:

Dinosaur Tracks

 We continued down Willow Flats Road a ways until we left the National Park and ran across the dinosaur tracks.  The tracks were of Sauropods and Therapods.  The pictures look pretty cool but I'm not sure I'd drive all that way for it if I only had limited time in the park. 

 We took Highway 191 back to the park and stopped at Courthouse Towers for a picture and then headed to Balanced Rock.

Eye of the Whale Arch

 We'd originally planned to go down the Salt Valley 4x4 road to see Tower Arch and Marching Men but the day we went it was closed.  We headed out to Willow Flats drive then to see Eye of the Whale Arch.  It was a pretty easy drive in two high clearance vehicles.  I'm not sure a sedan or minivan would have fared well.  We were able to walk right up to the arch and even around it.  We were probably the only visitor's to make it out that way.

As lame as the pictures look we still had fun driving around in our manly vehicles.  It was nice to see my truck being used as it should be.

Stars in the Night Sky

 One night I had fun experimenting with my camera.  I didn't think the stars would even show up but if you look carefully you can see the Little Dipper.  Luckily, Grandma was a good sport about having the lantern in her tent for a little while.

 

 We took a couple of night hikes around the campsite.  It was fun using no light or only our head lamps.  The kids even went one night and had a blast.

 

Landscape Arch

 I'd already run out this way that morning (it was the golden hour w/ the sun) so I wasn't sure I would be able to get any good pictures of Landscape Arch in the late afternoon but was pleasantly surprised.  The kids barely made it there and needed to be prodded with some 'mintspirations.'  (Lifesavers).  The Fiery Furnace Tour, Skyline Arch, and no naps had made for some very tired little people.  They went to sleep quickly that night.  (The night before they had giggled madly in their sleeping bags for a good 2 hours!)

We did make the trek to see Pine Tree and Tunnel Arch as well.  I ran the primitive trail for a ways two days but it wasn't that obvious of a trail to follow and lost it so I never made the complete loop.  Another day I went towards Double O Arch and did see Navajo and Partition Arch but didn't want to go by myself to Double O.  It was high and no one knew I was going that far so I turned around.  I will say the light makes all the difference in the morning for a good photo of Landscape Arch.  Of the three mornings I ran only one would have been good for photographing.  Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera that day.

Relaxing afternoon crawling around Skyline Arch

 After our Fiery Furnace tour we came back to the campsite for lunch and then spent some time exploring around our campsite.  Skyline Arch was just a hop, skip, and a jump behind us and the kids had fun climbing the rocks.

 

 

Fiery Furnace Tour

 

We had signed up online for the Fiery Furnace Tour.  We were in a group of about 15 people.  The tour was about 3 hours long with lots of stops along the way describing what makes an arch, the native animals and flora. 

 

Our ranger was okay but we've experienced more engaging speakers in other parks. 

 

 

We were able to crawl through this arch and come out a different way.  The kids loved this part.

 We had many opportunities to climb on the rocks and bridge the gap.

One of the many arches we saw on this tour that met the 'arch' criteria:

1) naturally made (not man made)

2) can see through it to the other side

3) the span must be greater than 36"