Tuesday, December 18.
Big South Fork National Park.
I spoke to a ranger at a visitor center, and he suggested my route, plus that I check out Pickett State Park for a place to stay nearby. He also gave me some very bad, and time consuming directions, since Twin Arch is .7 miles from a TH that I could have driven to in about ten minutes, so I did 7 extra miles of hiking to see the arches, instead of 1.4. It was a great hike, though, so no complaints. I'm doing pics of the arches, but am only posting a complete trail report of the Honey Creek Loop hike I did on Wednesday. Otherwise, reading this thread would take longer than hiking to the arches![Roll Eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Slave Falls to Charit Creek Trail connecting to the Twin Arch loop.
Needle Arch
[youtube]Kj-x5-fRQvg[/youtube]
Slave Falls
[youtube]Sw_lv5vFqVU[/youtube]
North Twin Arch
[youtube]tK1M_LDFBYY[/youtube]
South Twin Arch appears smaller in span(nomenclature fail, I suppose), but much more massive. So massive I couldn't get it in a pic without going downhill so far that the trees obscured the view of it.
The smaller appearing span is not borne out in the listed measurements, though, so I guess they go by more than appearances:foot:
From the NPS site:
In most dimensions, South Arch is the larger of the two. At one point, the deck is 103 feet(31.4 meters) high with a clearance of about70 feet (21.3 meters). North Arch, in contrast, has a height of about 62 feet (18.9 meters)with a 51 foot (15.5 meter) clearance. Each arch is a major topographic feature. On the north, South Arch blends into a rockshelter and a widened bedding plane. Thus, measuring the breadth of the span involves subjective judgment. The span is clearly greater than 135 feet (41.1 meters). North Arch has a more easily defined span, about 93 feet(28.3 meters). Each bridge has a near-perfect arch shape.
[youtube]U3heuKZnIMY[/youtube]
Due to a rather late start for the day after some back problems the night before, I ended up hiking out 4.8 miles in the dark.
I camped at nearby Pickett State Park, where I would also spend the first part of Wednesday morning.
Wednesday.
Pickett State Park.
Arch Lake, whose arch is actually a natural bridge(or I'm just confused about the nomenclature again) that connects the "mainland" to a an island.
Also at Pickett State Park, I visited Hazard Cave, and then the "Natural Bridge".
My camera got its modes switched when I put it in its case, and the pics of Natural Bridge came out...kind of horrible, mostly.
Video from the top of it:
[youtube]BUvPXUyh-Yc[/youtube]
Big South Fork National Park.
I spoke to a ranger at a visitor center, and he suggested my route, plus that I check out Pickett State Park for a place to stay nearby. He also gave me some very bad, and time consuming directions, since Twin Arch is .7 miles from a TH that I could have driven to in about ten minutes, so I did 7 extra miles of hiking to see the arches, instead of 1.4. It was a great hike, though, so no complaints. I'm doing pics of the arches, but am only posting a complete trail report of the Honey Creek Loop hike I did on Wednesday. Otherwise, reading this thread would take longer than hiking to the arches
Slave Falls to Charit Creek Trail connecting to the Twin Arch loop.
Needle Arch
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg690%2F8168%2Fdscn4388f.jpg&hash=bc54a761144caafa3c7061c7643107ae)
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg203%2F6525%2Fdscn4447r.jpg&hash=85e1e28e36038d90d9f9059499ec3b6b)
[youtube]Kj-x5-fRQvg[/youtube]
Slave Falls
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg577%2F1405%2Fdscn4488ql.jpg&hash=137c22b45df22a6c7017b193baac6d32)
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg211%2F2294%2Fdscn4499u.jpg&hash=ee4a8fd571c80710eaf740916ac4ca3a)
[youtube]Sw_lv5vFqVU[/youtube]
North Twin Arch
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg703%2F7017%2Fdscn4638p.jpg&hash=0b8609b76a2a0aafff8890fc1d2d6def)
[youtube]tK1M_LDFBYY[/youtube]
South Twin Arch appears smaller in span(nomenclature fail, I suppose), but much more massive. So massive I couldn't get it in a pic without going downhill so far that the trees obscured the view of it.
The smaller appearing span is not borne out in the listed measurements, though, so I guess they go by more than appearances:foot:
From the NPS site:
In most dimensions, South Arch is the larger of the two. At one point, the deck is 103 feet(31.4 meters) high with a clearance of about70 feet (21.3 meters). North Arch, in contrast, has a height of about 62 feet (18.9 meters)with a 51 foot (15.5 meter) clearance. Each arch is a major topographic feature. On the north, South Arch blends into a rockshelter and a widened bedding plane. Thus, measuring the breadth of the span involves subjective judgment. The span is clearly greater than 135 feet (41.1 meters). North Arch has a more easily defined span, about 93 feet(28.3 meters). Each bridge has a near-perfect arch shape.
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg585%2F2986%2Fdscn4654v.jpg&hash=24aeae2be8166cef1562a50a68bec7bd)
[youtube]U3heuKZnIMY[/youtube]
Due to a rather late start for the day after some back problems the night before, I ended up hiking out 4.8 miles in the dark.
I camped at nearby Pickett State Park, where I would also spend the first part of Wednesday morning.
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg849%2F2594%2Fdscn4710z.jpg&hash=6d2e30537dd3351f2a7d7cef1e8c4064)
Wednesday.
Pickett State Park.
Arch Lake, whose arch is actually a natural bridge(or I'm just confused about the nomenclature again) that connects the "mainland" to a an island.
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg841%2F1097%2Fdscn4741k.jpg&hash=668ce155cffb838064c97d3144cf84f7)
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg248%2F9255%2Fdscn4749.jpg&hash=3ceefd84f37d1b021619f3800e6c995c)
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg839%2F6104%2Fdscn4761d.jpg&hash=9426d139cbd09b45c542677e3fec7ecf)
Also at Pickett State Park, I visited Hazard Cave, and then the "Natural Bridge".
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg802%2F6172%2Fdscn4772.jpg&hash=64ef11556952e368e785fd784b9b9982)
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg26%2F5783%2Fdscn4783i.jpg&hash=2161114af5ce062d430d41c8c722bb11)
My camera got its modes switched when I put it in its case, and the pics of Natural Bridge came out...kind of horrible, mostly.
![](/forum/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fimageshack.us%2Fa%2Fimg18%2F7430%2Fdscn4793r.jpg&hash=5c628844dc1580b5944623e2d01954aa)
Video from the top of it:
[youtube]BUvPXUyh-Yc[/youtube]