Day 11: Part 1 - Arches National Park

So today we went to Arches. "We" went to the visitor center, and Mrs. B ventured forth up the cliff road to the actual area of the park.  Most of you know that I'm not a big "height" or "width" person (don't like narrow places that are high up, or even just high up places). But I did get some pictures from around the area, and gained some knowledge about the geography of the area (I sat through the movie twice).

Here is Mrs. B. at the visitor center sign.

And here is the "road" that goes up to the actual park (yes, there is a road along that cliff).

So, Arches is the northeastern part of the Colorado Plateau, which has an interesting geological history. At one point there was a large up-thrusting of a salt dome that is said to exist underneath the plateau. This upthrust caused the soft sedimentary rock to be exposed to erosion by wind, rain, and river. The Arches area is an example of erosion by wind and rain, which explains the ridges and natural arches that form through out the park.
Running through the plateau are two major river systems, the Colorado coming out the Rocky Mountains, and the Green River coming from Wyoming. These two rivers meet just west of Arches in a national park called Canyonlands. In Canyonlands you will see deep canyons (see how clever the naming is?). So that area is primarily eroded by the rivers, which needed someplace to go after the upthrust.
There are canyons throughout the Colorado Plateau, culminating in the Grand Canyon in the southwest section of the Plateau.