One minute it was there, the next it was gone.
The collapse of "Wall Arch" at Arches National Park proves once again that gravity does work, even though you might wonder after gazing at the "rockitecture" of this dazzling Utah park.
Wall Arch, long a key attraction along the park's Devils Garden Trail, collapsed sometime overnight August 4. And since rock has continued to peel off of the collapsed arch, officials have been forced to temporarily close the popular trail just beyond Landscape Arch.
On Thursday representatives from both the National Park Service Geologic Resources Division and the Utah Geological Survey visited the site and noted obvious stress fractures in the remaining formation. Rock debris has completely blocked this section of the trail. The closure will remain in effect until visitor safety issues can be resolved.
First reported and named by Lewis T. McKinney in 1948, Wall Arch was a free-standing arch in the Slickrock member of the Entrada sandstone. The opening beneath the span was 71-feet wide and 33-1/2 feet high. It ranked 12th in size among the over 2,000 known arches in the park.
All arches are but temporary features and all will eventually succumb to the forces of gravity and erosion. While the geologic forces that created the arches are still very much underway, in human terms it’s rare to observe such dramatic changes.
No one has reported observing the arch collapse and there were no visitor injuries.
Comments
I wanted to do that Fiery Furnace walk but was too chicken when they showed me the pics of it. Was it scary or fantastically worth it? I love that park so much. Wish I were there right now for the Perseid.
As I recall there are signs and postings notifying visitors to not walk on any of the arches. Unfortunately many park visitors ignore these postings or just don't care. Most of the offenders aren't even American(from my experience) and in places where there are fines, its not steep enough. On a recent trip through Capital Reef NP there were signs posted with $100 fines for walking off the trail. Whos that gonna scare??
Come on guys, I know its nearly impossible to catch these offenders but when you do...MAKE IT HURT!! We need to send a message to people that it is NOT acceptable to trample wherever in these places.
I am so glad that the Black Canyon and therefore the Curecanti Recreation Area made your list of places to visit!(coming all the way from Australia).
I have a great digital photo of my brother under The Wall Arch from a few years back. What a beautiful hike.
I am glad Arches is protected land as there are so many incredible places nearby that are up of 'the oil shale grab'.
Why can't we just shoot them? Guns are legal in National parks.
I was at Landscape Arch on Monday around 1:00 pm. I can confirm that it was bloody hot. My other family members made us turn back rather than continuing the final 1/4 mile to Wall arch. I'm sorry now that I didn't push them around the next bend of the trail. We also had some rain that evening where we were, near 4 corners. I would support the theory that the week of hot weather followed by a rapid cooling and maybe a bit of rain as the straw that broke the arches back :-)
We stayed in the Devil's Campground the night of the collapse. During the night I thought I heard thunder. But it never happened again. Then early that morning, my family and I hiked the Devils Garden Trail (in 107 degree heat!) and came upon the collapsed Wall Arch. At this point in the morning, park rangers were only just being alerted to the collapse. We took lots of pictures and continued to view the rest of the arches on that trail. Amazing!!! Arches is my favorite NP. So Far....!!!!!
I ca't get enough of Arches - since childhood over 50 years ago - and it personally offends me to see people scurry up the Double Arch area as if by climbing these landmarks they nhave somehow mastered them...how arrogant and impolite to our Mother.
I was there just a few weeks ago. I feel immensely privileged to have been one of the last people to view Wall Arch. It all seems so majestic and immovable when you are there, strange to think that just a few weeks later (a heartbeat in geological time) it's gone.