Two and a half miles northeast of the road intersection near Balanced
Rock, a gravelled side road leads northeastward to several points of
considerable interest. The photograph in figure 11 was taken from this
side road about half a mile northeast of the intersection. About 2 miles
to the northeast, just beyond Salt Valley Wash, is a parking area (stop
17) at the beginning of the trail past Wolfe’s Bar-DX Ranch (fig. 3) to
famed Delicate Arch, which is featured on the front cover. Although the
trail to the arch is only 1½ miles long, it crosses several hills at the
outset, then climbs 500 feet, mostly on bare Entrada Sandstone, so is
considered quite strenuous, particularly in hot weather. The Park
Service advises hikers to carry water. The Walt Disney crew, cameras,
gear, cougars, and all climbed this trail in the hottest part of the
summer of 1971 (see p. 16), while my wife and I were working in the
vicinity. Visitors who do not wish to make the hike may get a distant
view of Delicate Arch by driving to a parking area (stop 18) 1.3 miles
farther east.
[Illustration: TURRET ARCH, viewed northeast toward South Window,
part of which is visible on left. Small opening on right is visible
also in figure 38. Largest arch is 39 feet wide and 64 feet high;
smaller one is 12 feet wide and 13 feet high. A still smaller one,
not visible in the photograph, is 8 feet wide and only 4½ feet high.
(Fig. 40)]
[Illustration: PARADE OF ELEPHANTS, viewed west from end of trail to
Double Arch. Two elephants are on right, one on left. (Fig. 41)]
After leaving Wolfe’s Ranch, the trail to Delicate Arch crosses Salt
Wash on a suspension foot bridge (fig. 42). Just beyond the bridge, a
short walk to the left (north) leads to the Ute petroglyphs shown in the
lower photograph of figure 2. The most difficult part of the trail, on
bare sandstone, is marked by cairns of stones placed at sufficient
intervals to keep hikers from losing the barely visible trail. When the
summit finally is reached and the last corner rounded, one suddenly sees
perhaps the most sublime view in the park—famed Delicate Arch, framing
part of the La Sal Mountains beyond (fig. 43). This graceful arch and
mighty Landscape Arch (fig. 53) were considered to be in serious
jeopardy during the era of sonic booms, but hopefully this danger now is
past. (See p. 16-17.)
It may be of interest to shutterbugs that professional photographer Hal
Rumel lugged an 8- × 10-inch camera plus a heavy tripod and accessories
up the steep trail to get the excellent photograph of Delicate Arch
shown in figure 43. The late afternoon sun intensified the red somewhat,
but my shots made earlier in the day using both 4- × 5-inch and 35-mm
equipment resulted in unwanted shadows, even though the salmon color of
the Slick Rock Member was more nearly normal.
After leaving the junction with the side road, the main park road
traverses slices of vertical strata squeezed between faults along the
north side of Salt Valley, then gradually climbs out of the valley for
about 2 miles to a parking area (stop 19), from which good views are had
of the southeast end of Salt Valley and of the grabens in the west end
of Cache Valley. (See fig. 11.)
[Illustration: Petroglyph figure]
[Illustration: SUSPENSION FOOT BRIDGE ACROSS SALT WASH, in front of
Wolfe’s cabin at beginning of Delicate Arch trail. (Fig. 42)]
[Illustration: DELICATE ARCH, from end of trail 1½ miles above
Wolfe’s Ranch. The opening is 33 feet wide and 45 feet high. The
left abutment is only 5 feet wide at the narrowest point. The arch
is carved near the top of the Slick Rock Member, and the top of the
span, 19 feet thick, is capped by a few feet of the more resistant
Moab Member, as is Broken Arch (fig. 16). Photograph by Hal Rumel,
Salt Lake City. (Fig. 43)]