[GaliWalker]

Part 1: The Racetrack and extras, Death Valley Part 2: Sand dunes and Fall Canyon, Death Valley Part 4: Mesa Arch (Canyonlands) and Arches NP Part 5: The Needles, Canyonlands NP Part 6: Kanarra Creek and Zion NP A long travel day, culminating in a magnificent evening... After a leisurely 5hrs of sleep, I was off on the long 10hr drive east, from the western edge of Nevada to the eastern edge of Utah. The next three days would be spent in the vicinity of Moab, skipping back and forth between Arches and Canyonlands National Park. I made good time on the drive and reached Moab earlier than expected. My plan had been to spend sunset at iconic Delicate Arch, but I had enough time to tuck in a little bit of sightseeing at the Windows complex first.

1- Balanced Rock

2- South Window Arch

3- Turret Arch

Then it was off to the Delicate Arch trailheads. I first did the short 0.5mi (one-way), hike to the upper viewpoint, which I had not visited before. The view of Delicate Arch from there was surprisingly nice, though a little distant, which limited different photographic compositions.

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I didn't spend too much time there, since my mouth had already started to water at the prospect of spending the last of the evening in Delicate Arch's shadow. The hike is 1.5mi one-way, with 700ft of gain, on slanted slickrock. I fairly flew across this. Upon reaching the arch I was greeted by the crowds, which had so irritated me on my first trip there. This time around the zoo was a bit more civilized, with people quite mindful that others also wanted to take photos of the arch. I wasn't too worried, because I knew that the crowds would thin out around sunset.

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By sunset, most of the people who remained were photographers. There was a nice sense of camaraderie in the air. After sunset, just three of us lingered on. My favorite photos of the day were from then, with Delicate Arch (almost) all to myself.

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[kite]

WOW!

[Don]

Love the after sunset color you got on Delicate Arch, Gali!

[rhettlawrence]

Wow indeed.

[GaliWalker]

Thanks guys. Delicate Arch is the most photographed arch in the world. Trying to come up with an original shot is almost impossible; I had to be satisfied with the soft pink glow for the after sunset photo. (I'm pretty sure even that must be a popular shot...)

[Karen²]

Heh, we have an original shot as well, everything is black except for our flashlights. This was one of the first trips David & I did together and we misjudged the sunset time and arrived after dark - oops! Things have changed, I never do that anymore. Awesome photos, you did a great job. I often find the best light is after the sun has set, sometimes in the SW the final sunlight reflecting off the red rock can be too bright and it can completely blow out in photos. I like the viewpoint one, that is quite a different view of Delicate Arch.

[bobbi]

awesome photos as always when i was there, i had no problem telling folks who lingered longer than necessary to move on so i can have my photo taken. while standing under the arch about to have my photo taken, some kids started running towards me. i yelled for them to stop and wait until i had my time under the arch. worked! we were there in August, hot hot hot

[GaliWalker]

bobbi, I need to take you with me every time I have prospective crowd trouble!

[Karen²]

Heh, I was thinking the same thing, those clouds behind it look like they might light up awful nicely, would be a great landscape telephoto shot I think.

[mbtigger]

kudos +1. Everyone needs a bit of arch support...(groan) Beautiful images as always..

[zephyr]

[Jim Dockery]

[Gil]

Ditto Dockery plus one

[Hiker Mama]

So cool!