Ashley Fetner Fine Art Photography

Arches National Park, Moab Utah

In the high desert (4,085-5,653 ft.) of Arches National Park you will find over 2,000 sandstone arches, the greatest density of natural sandstone arches in the world!  All different in size and shape ranging from the smallest with a 3 foot opening to the longest that is 306 feet base to base.  New arches are being formed daily as the old ones are destroyed.  In fact in 1991 a rock slab 60 feet long, 11 feet wide and 4 inches thick, fell from the Landscape Arch during the filming of a documentary-that was a close call but no one was hurt!

The world famous Delicate Arch stands on the edge of a canyon with the beautiful La Sal Mountains behind.  The best time to photograph the arch is at sunset.  It is a 3 mile hike round trip.  The first half-mile was flat but the next mile was on open slick rock and you gained about 480 feet as you climbed.  Just before getting to the arch, I had to navigate a narrow ledge (I didn’t look down!)  I just kept thinking that around the next turn will be the arch, but as I made that last turn all I saw were crowds of people!  They were everywhere vying for their spot and waiting with their cameras for that “precise” moment when the light would be right.

No one spoke as the sun began to drop and sculpt the arch with light—

This was a moment in time that I was glad just to be –

Kay

 Unusual name for a state park wouldn’t you agree?
As Ashley and I were driving toward Moab Utah I was reading information about Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and it mentioned Dead Horse Point State Park.  Immediately all kinds of images began to run through my mind!  We decided this was a place we had to see!

Dead Horse Pointe State Park is 6,000 feet above sea level and has the most spectacular 270 degree view of red-orange canyons that I have ever seen!  At the Dead Horse Point Overlook you can see the Gooseneck of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below.

So, how did it get the name?
Wild mustang herds ran free on the mesa near the point and there was a narrow 30-yard neck that the cowboys fenced to create a large corral.  Here they would break the best horse to sale and for their personal use.  The others were left behind to find their way out of the canyon.  For some unknown reason, the mustangs did not leave and they died of thirst with in sight of the Colorado River.

In the quiet of the evening as I stood on the point surrounded by the breathtaking views-I could almost “hear” the hooves running across the mesa-

Kay